Camp Maqua

Images of America: Michigan

by Kathryn A. Baker

The Bay City, Michigan, YWCA camp began as a small gathering of 65 women during the summer of 1916 at a rental cottage in Killarney. The second site, selected two years later, was on Aplin Beach near Saginaw Bay. In 1924, the YWCA purchased the Camp Maqua property in Hale, on the shores of Loon Lake, with a solitary farmhouse, and numerous cabins were then completed. After the YWCA sold the property to a private owner in 1979, it was subdivided into 10 parcels. In 1987, the Baker/Starks families purchased the lodge and 14 acres. Ten families continue to keep the spirit of Maqua alive through an association dedicated to retaining the historical integrity of the land and remaining buildings.

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2015

Reviews

[Brooke Cooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was 11, my family purchased the lodge at Camp Maqua as our summer home. I spent summers there with my siblings as a child and later brought my children to enjoy its beautiful respite.

My mother (Kathryn A. Baker) worked diligently for years on the research and production of this book, interviewing campers and digging through boxes of memorabilia. This book magically brings to life the property, campers, and structures that don the grounds of my childhood memories.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn Baker had no idea when her family landed on the soil of Camp Maqua to make their summer home that Camp Maqua girls would show up every summer to stare at the property, conjuring up the memories of their own summers spent there. Kathryn did a magnificent job of researching and interviewing to create this book about the history of Camp Maqua, its spirit (still alive today), and people.

When I look at the pages of this book, I realize that not only do I see two generations of my family in them, I also see young women who shared the same things we did in a timeless sort of way. It's amazing how well this book captures the memories.