Idlewilde Lodge

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Kendall County, there stands a building that has worn more names than most people have in a lifetime. It goes by Idlewilde Lodge now, but pull up a chair, because the story of how it got there is something else entirely.

The structure was built in 1902, and right from the start it was no ordinary building. Constructed of Texas long leaf yellow pine, with cypress siding and millwork, this was a place built with intention. The kind of place that says somebody had plans.

That somebody was Dr. C. H.

Wilkinson of Galveston, who first put the building to use as a spa. Now there's a beginning for you. A spa, out here in the Texas Hill Country.

Dr. Wilkinson apparently knew something about what a person needs. Then 1906 rolls around, and the property changes hands.

A man named E. Hugo takes ownership and the spa becomes something called Camp Reliance. Hugo ran it right up until 1912, when a fellow named Robert Wilke acquired the land and gave it yet another new identity, Camp Good Times.

Camp Good Times. You have to appreciate a name that doesn't leave any room for misunderstanding. But the story wasn't done shuffling yet.

In 1918 the YWCA bought the building, and when they did, this long leaf pine structure found what you might call its calling. It became the main lodge for Camp Idlewilde, a girls' summer camp. And it held that role for more than sixty years.

More than sixty years of summers. More than sixty years of girls arriving from somewhere else and leaving changed by the Hill Country air and whatever it is that happens at a place like that. Spa, reliance, good times, and then, finally, idlewilde.

Four names, one building, and more than six decades of summers that belong to the girls who were there.

What the marker says

Built in 1902 of Texas long leaf yellow pine with cypress siding and millwork, this structure was first used as a spa by Dr. C. H. Wilkinson of Galveston. In 1906 the property was sold to E. Hugo, who operated "Camp Reliance" here until 1912 when Robert Wilke acquired the land and adopted the name "Camp Good Times". The building was bought by the YWCA in 1918 and served as the main lodge for "Camp Idlewilde", a girls' summer camp, for more than 60 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983