17th Century | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century
In 1923 Camp Eaton opened with a simple sign "Tent Sites - 50 Cents/Night". Jim & Mary Eaton (current owner Peter Wagner's great grandparents) originally purchased the property as farm land from the First Parish Church in town. Unfortunately as farm land, the property wasn't the best (to this day whenever we dig a whole on the grounds we find "Jim Eaton's potatoes" - rocks!). Around the same time, with the dawn of the age of the automobile, recreational travel was becoming more possible for the common man. York Beach was quickly becoming a destination for middle class workers in the Boston area and beyond. By the time Jim and Mary's daughter Maryellen and her husband George Wood took over running the campground in the 30's folks traveling with basic canvas tents was quite common. There were also several basic cabins built on the property during this period. Maryellen & George's daughter Jane and her husband Burton (Bud) Wagner took over operations through the 70's and 80's which coincided with the expansion of the RV industry. Upon their retirement, their son Peter and his wife Kathy took over in the early 1990's and slowly transitioned Camp Eaton to an all seasonal site community in the late 2000's. The campground is still family-run, with Peter and Kathy's children representing the fifth generation of ownership.