When the Ithaca Council of Girl Scouts opened summer camp on Cayuga Lake in 1934, it was the twelfth season of Girl Scouts camping along the shores of Cayuga Lake. Prior to 1934, starting in 1922, Girl Scouts camped on land along the shores of Cayuga Lake made available to Girl Scouts by people willing to share their land for the opportunity for girls to experience living in an outdoor setting, and studying  nature.  Friends of Girl Scouting in the truest sense! 

Land that would become part of present day Comstock Outdoor Adventure Center was given by Professor and Mrs. Ernest T. Paine in 1926, to be used by Girl Scouts from Ithaca and Tompkins County. Mrs. Paine was the second deputy commissioner for the Ithaca Council. This camp included about one mile of lake shore, with woods and small glens. It was described as one of the most beautiful points along the lake.  Again, friends of Girl Scouting in the truest sense! 

The Cornell Daily Sun, October 6, 1926 reported, “At the annual Girl Scout Mother/Daughter Dinner, Mrs. A.C. Durand announced that the new camp of the Girl Scouts at Crowbar Point on the West Side of Cayuga Lake had been named Anna Botsford Comstock in honor of the famous naturalist.”  Anna Comstock was the first female professor at Cornell University. A leader in the nature study movement, she was also a member of the national advisory committee on Girl Scouts nature work.  

A fundraising drive for Camp Comstock was held in the spring of 1927, led by the Zonta Club of Ithaca, a business and professional women’s organization. Funds were sought for road construction, tents, latrines, wells, a dock and boats, tables and benches, dishes and kitchen equipment. A lodge was also funded and built, including a dining and recreation room with a large stone fireplace. These efforts one could say marked the earliest beginnings of the “Friends of Comstock”. 

Camp Comstock was formally dedicated on July 17, 1927.   

Summer 2020 will mark the ninety-eighth season that Girl Scouts will be camping on the shores of Cayuga Lake.  This summer, like all the summers before, Girl Scouts will carry away camp memories of their time at Comstock.  Memories, and the place they were made at, both made possible by the vision and commitment of people. Friends they are called, who care and believe in the magical setting called camp, and the Girl Scout outdoor experience. 

 Thank you to the earliest “Friends of Comstock”, and here’s to all the “Friends of Comstock” yet to be!  

Camp Comstock History

Bailiwick Lodge

Town of Ulysses, Tompkins County, NY. LINK
Crowbar Point Cemetery is nestled in the woods on the west side of Cayuga Lake in the town of Ulysses. It is located on the east side of Route 89 (Taughannock Boulevard), approximately five miles from the Ithaca City line.

As the tombstones are not visible from the road, some additional landmarks are in order. If you stand at Grocery (on the west side of Route 89, near the Garrett Road intersection), look across the highway. You will look across a field of grass to a line of trees. The cemetery lies just inside that line of trees. As you approach, you will see a which juts out toward you with a small opening. Inside that opening lies the cemetery. The cemetery is approximately 25 yards square. Many stones were never marked or faded to the point that inscriptions are no longer visible. Most stones are toppled and broken. The cemetery is inactive.

Historic Bailiwick Lodge is a truly special gem for the GSNYPENN council. Bailiwick was the summer home of Cornell University Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey, a man known for being a core influence in what is now modern-day horticulture. In addition to that history, Bailiwick is the only building that is fully heated with water available year-round. Bathrooms are in an outhouse near the building.