Hey ya folks,
It's been a while but we've been biding our time, collecting our resources, effecting meticulous planning, and training our crack squad of urban explorer ninjas to bring to you this, our latest exploration. Unfortunately, like any decent Shakespearian play, we get caught by the caretaker or in this particular case, a witch in a Ford Truck posing as a caretaker.
Before we carry on too long, let's watch a short video . . .
A bit of History now on the Bolton Camp
This camp was founded in 1922 as Fresh Air Camp for mothers with small children, boys and girls from low income families by the The Neighborhood Workers Association of Toronto. The camp physically consisted of 92 acres of hillside, wooded glen and the properties adjacent to Cold Creek Stream which had been once used as a local Angler Club. The Association had purchased the property for $11,500 ( a large amount of money back then).In it's very first year, 160 city children and their mothers travelled from Toronto to Bolton by steam train and then by truck to the 39-hectare camp north of the city. In the 1930's and the great depression had hit many hard in the area and this camp was a bright place for many unfortunate kids to escape the heat and extreme poverty of the city. This camp was available free of charge to many families (on a case by case basis) through the Fresh Air Fund.
In 1928, it cost $8.56 per child for a 12 day program at Bolton Camp, which included food, transportation, medical care, upkeep of buildings, sanitation system and some non-volunteer staff positions such as a resident physician and a few nurses.
The children were weighed on entering and before leaving for home. There are stories that some underweight children at that time gained a pound a day. During the first 17 years of Operation, 17,641 children and mothers enjoyed a holiday at the camp. There were a total of four separate camps which shared property and resources - Rotary, Sherbourne, Hastins and Howell.
In 2000, the Bolton Camp property was sold by the Association (now known as the Family Service Association of Toronto ), when it was decided that collaborative, community-based programs would more effectively engage families at risk due to low income or discrimination. Part of the proceeds from the sale of Bolton Camp were used to fund many needed and worthy projects.
The camp and property was purchased by the Toronto Montessori Schools which had constructed a large modern complex on the north side of the camp which was named the Caledon-King Campus. This campus had closed its doors in just five short years (reasons unknown at the time of posting), and the property is now for sale. The property has an assessed value of approximately 4.6 million (OPAC / MPAC 2005 assessment).
Unfortunately, local a$$-clown vandals have found their way onto the property and smashed just about anything they could lay their paws on. Due to this, the caretakers are now extremely sensitive to anyone coming onto the property and will likely run you over with their truck. (yeah rlly)
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26 comments:
Heres to hoping the caretakers realize that people with cameras really arent interested in wrecking the place, we just want to document it.
I'm guessing the crazy Jamican lady (and I do use that term loosely) and her redneck counterpart were likely just protecting their grow op. Seriously, she was way too angry about our presence for just some underpaid caretaker! And that's Punky's take on the matter!
I'm glad y'all made it here. That's weird about the Jamaican woman. I think Funky_Punky's grow op theory might be correct.
I went to that camp back in the 70's and its a shame it had to close because it did do a lot of good for the kids.
I also went to this camp and really enjoyed it. My mother was a single parent and we were lucky to have something like this.
My mother worked there and so I spent every summer of my young life there. I also worked there in 1999 when they were shutting down. Your video made me very sad.
Some great pics. Its not often you come across an abandoned swimming pool, in my experience!
I went there when I was a kid. It's sad that it's abanded I think Tim Hortons should buy it and reopen it for kids because it a great memory to have, if I was rich I would totally buy the property in a hart beat and reopen for the kids that never get the chance to go camping :)
I went to Bolton Camp as a little girl with my Mom and I loved it. I went back year after year until I was just too old. It's really too bad. I too would buy it in a heartbeat and give it back to the kids. I was hoping to at least visit but that sounds like it's not an option either. :-)
Bolton camp sucked! My Brother and I went there in the 80's and cleaned up in the running marathons. The councilers were douch bags working for 5 bucks an hour. Even if it was still around I would not subject my children to that hell hole. As far as I'm concerned the place needs to be bulldozed!!
Very sad video ! I was also in a single mother family and Bolton was the only way I could afford to go to camp. Maybe it was crap to you like the one poster said, but to me it was a place of escape and magic and I had nothing but great experiences with all of the staff. IMo they made a mistake in selling it, you just can't put a price on these kind of experiences.
i also went here back in the 80's it was some of the best times as a kid does anyone remember the story about the old man and his family they had the little house there and where buried there
Ya I remember that story lol I also was there in the 80s & I went in that half in the ground house of old man Bolton! Wish it was still up and running cuz I would so go back to help in anyway I could! Great camp when I was there.
I was walking through the forest just the other day and I met a purple people eater on my way and he put me in a big pot! Making a purple stew....
I was a Chestnut, Sumac and a Sequoia! I remember the mosquitoes and moths flying around the outdoor washroom lights. I remember a girl wearing a black bathing suit and singing Rod Stewerts "if you like my body.." I thought she was so cool. We slept in a cabin with a few other girls in our own bunks. We had a competition and were divided into groups. We had to come up with a skit. The prize was 1st group allowed to shower. This meant hot water! If you were last you got cold water for sure! The regular old skit was to throw a blanket over yourself and pretend you were a giraffe that would pee on people. Our skit (my idea) was to get contestants to try and look at the scary creature under the blanket. The host would call the audience one by one and one by one each person would run away after looking under the blanket at the creature. The last person was called down to look and was so hard to look at and scary that the creature ran away! Well we won first place! That was a great day!
To ~z0th's comment about caretakers, trespassing is trespassing whether you're carrying a camera or a baseball bat. Can't expect people to know your intent when you are already breaking the law by being there.
Nevertheless, this is a nice tribute to Bolton Camp, thank you!. I grew up right next door to it but never attended it (what for when it was already my extended back yard?). The caretakers of the past always gave us permission to walk it because we were their eyes on the ground. The campers sometimes blundered onto our land and mistook my dad for Old Man Boton. I can't say I know who this crazy Jamaican lady is, but I assure you there are no grow ops. I keep an eye on the place (not that the most recent past owner really cared about the property - hence the assclowns had their way).
You will be glad to know that the Toronto and Region Conservaton Authority recently acquired it, and they intend to re-establish a kids' camp use on the former camp area of the property.
I went there in the 70's. It was an awesome camp. I grew up in the Toronto Ontario Housing Projects so it was cool to go there in the summer. Do you haver or know where to get anymore of the camper group photos. If so can you post them. Thank.
I loved it their. i went in the late 70's and early 80's. it was a shame that it closed. old man bolton and the groanies rocked. lol. Oh. im from camp bolton and were on the best team. lolol.
Sadly I didn't know it had closed. I went every summer, and had a blast as a child there.
i went there too...in the video,pic with all the boys sittin with stu and jimbo,that was the year shotgun got sent home...too bad this place got shut down...no kids will hear of how old man bolton did in his family and turned em into groonies
I went there with my two brothers in the early 60s for a summer or two. We really enjoy it. I still remember "Bolton's Song" but can't remember a small part of it. What I can remember is: "Green hills, valleys, and meadows brown, ......??...., friendship, hearts full of gladness, this is Bolton's Song, Bolton, Bolton, this is Bolton's Song." Can anyone remember the bit that I've left out?
As someone who used to live in Regent Park, I really benefited from a week at Camp Bolton. I hope they restore it to its former glory.
I loved Bolton Camp. I was there in the early 60s. I sometimes recall Bolton's Song: "Green hills, valleys, and meadows brown ....???..., friendship, hearts full of gladness this is Bolton's Song, Bolton, Bolton, this is Bolton's song." Can anyone fill in the missing words that I can't remember?
As a young boy growing up in the Junction, Toronto, in a single parent family, my mother and 4 younger siblings it was a fantastic journey to Bolton Camp via train. I don't recognize the large buildings but do remember the pool! I ventured into the deep end one day and was suspended below the surface and couldn't go down to push off from the bottom. I was just about to swallow water when a counsellor noticed my dilemma and reached down and pulled me out! I went to the camp a couple of years when I was 10 & 11, II think. It would be a great idea to revive a place like that:)
In response to the pic comment. I was actually in that pic to my surprise lol great memory ! Stu was my counsellor and the best. I remember getting in a fight with a kid in that pic and punched him in the face crazy kids. Why did shotgun get sent home ?
I went there two years in a row around 1959 or 1960. Remember how the age groups were named after Indian tribes, Huron, Iroquois etc. The video says the pool was installed in 1972, but I remember there being one when I was there. A friend of mine almost drowned and they had to pull him off the bottom of the pool. He coughed up a gallon of water but he was okay.
yes its a shame, i was a camper aswell as a counselor there and had hoped to share my memories with my children, besides my secret friend, purple stew my fav was rock a way beach aka cliff with a rope to swing into water....goodtimes
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