Camp History

Toward the end of the 1800’s the property on the northwest side of Big Cove was purchased by George W. Doxie, a well-known timber looker or land looker.  The land was virgin timber and wilderness as it had been for many centuries.  The latter part of the 1800’s and early 1900’s saw many of the virgin stands of timber in the Cadillac area timbered off.  This was the case too with the Big Cove site and by 1907 the Point were Camp Torenta now stands consisted only of small trees and some vacant area.

It was in 1907 that the YMCA announced the opening of a camp on what was then known as Doxie’s Point on Big Cove.  W.W. Mitchell helped secure title for the YMCA and the deed was recorded in 1908 with a stated consideration of $50.  Although a road around Lake Cadillac was completed around 1890, there was not a road around Lake Mitchell yet.  Therefore, all campers, tents and supplies were transported by boat from the City Dock at the foot of Harris Street, through the canal and across both lakes.  W.W. Mitchell provided his yacht for this transportation.  There were no buildings on Doxie’s Point, and campers slept in tents.

The first building constructed at Camp Doxie was a bungalow, which is now referred to as the “lodge.”  Construction began in early July and was completed in early August of 1909.

1926 was the first year that campers arrived at Camp Doxie by car on a ‘trail’ type road.  Much of the road was deep sand, and the trip to camp meant that the occupants ended up pushing their cars to camp.    In 1926, the facilities at camp consisted of the Lodge and four bunkhouse cabins build in 1922 by local organizations.  In 1926, camp was operated 7 days a week with campers arriving Monday morning and departing Sunday afternoon – a camp tradition until the late 1950’s.

During the 1930’s camp was shut down for a while, but remained as an interest in the community.  In April of 1938, the Cadillac Rotary Club, Kiwanis and other local Clubs were instrumental in supporting the purchase of the camp by the Cadillac School Board.   The YMCA offered the camp for $3,000 cash with the understanding it would be used for community projects.

On June 28, 1939, the first contingent of campers arrived at Doxie’s Point to occupy the premises under the new ownership who named the camp Cadillac School Camp.  Cadillac School Camp became known as Camp Torenta in the mid 1950’s when a system wide contest was held to give the camp a name. 

Now we have a 2010 goal to revive the facility that has counseled many a camper to fond memories and natural realizations.  If you are inspired to leave a legacy for the future youth of the area, please help us do so see our Wish List page.  Also, if you have any old photos you would like to share, we would love to get them. Send to contactus@camptorenta.info.