Idlewilde Lodge
Comfort, Kendall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Raised in 1902 from Texas longleaf pine and cypress, this Hill Country lodge began as a health spa run by a Galveston doctor before passing through a series of owners and camp names. In 1918 the YWCA acquired it as the main lodge of Camp Idlewilde, a girls' summer camp that welcomed young women for more than sixty years.
Why it matters
It preserves the story of early-twentieth-century summer camping and the YWCA's work carving out spaces for girls' independence and outdoor life in the American landscape.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
At the turn of the twentieth century, Americans were rethinking fresh air and open country. Crowded, fast-growing cities made rural retreats look like medicine. Health spas, mineral springs, and resorts promising restored vitality spread across the country, and the Texas Hill Country, with its clear rivers, cedar-covered hills, and drier air, drew visitors from the humid Gulf Coast.
Comfort sits on the Guadalupe River in Kendall County. It was founded in the 1850s by German immigrants, many of them freethinkers, and by 1902 it was a small, settled community in some of the prettiest country in Texas. A lodge built here was well placed for city people looking for rest.
The same years saw the rise of the American summer camp. Reformers and educators believed that time outdoors built character, health, and self-reliance in young people. At first the idea mostly served boys, but organizations such as the YWCA soon made sure girls got the chance to swim, hike, and live independently for a summer too.
People & events
The lodge went up in 1902, built of Texas longleaf yellow pine with cypress siding and millwork, materials chosen to last in a river valley. Its first purpose was as a spa run by Dr. C. H. Wilkinson of Galveston. A physician offering Hill Country rest to Gulf Coast patients fits the health-seeking spirit of the time.
The property soon changed hands. In 1906 it went to E. Hugo, who ran it as "Camp Reliance" until 1912. That year Robert Wilke acquired the land and renamed it "Camp Good Times." The names say something about the era: people came to the river for relief and for fun.
The longest chapter began in 1918, when the YWCA bought the building. As the main lodge of Camp Idlewilde, a summer camp for girls, it served for more than sixty years. Across those decades, generations of girls came to the Guadalupe to swim, sing, learn outdoor skills, and form friendships away from home. The building was recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1983.
Its place in the American story
The YWCA's purchase came in 1918, while World War I was changing women's roles across the country. It was also a time when many Americans were debating how much independence girls and young women should have. A camp run by and for girls was a practical answer: a place where they could be capable, adventurous, and in charge of themselves.
The summer camp itself became an American institution, and many of its traditions, from the central lodge and waterfront to the campfire songs, took shape in the early twentieth century. Idlewilde Lodge shows how those camps often grew: they reused older buildings, in this case a spa and then earlier camps, rather than starting from scratch.
A camp that ran for more than sixty years, from the World War I era into the late twentieth century, also shows continuity. Many ideas about girlhood, health, and nature changed over that time, and one pine-and-cypress lodge in the Texas Hill Country hosted all of those summers.
If you visit
Look closely at what the lodge is made of. Longleaf yellow pine and cypress were prized building woods, and a structure from 1902 that survived decades of hard summer use shows why. Notice how the building sits in the river landscape. It was designed for long, hot days and the cool evenings along the Guadalupe.
Keep in mind that this may be private or organizational property, so enjoy it from wherever the public is welcome. Picture the lodge in each of its lives: a quiet spa, a string of camps with hopeful names, and then decades of girls arriving every summer with trunks and sleeping bags.
Comfort is a rewarding stop on a Hill Country drive. Its historic downtown and German heritage make it worth a wander, and the Guadalupe River valley around it explains, better than any sign, why people kept coming here looking for rest, health, and a good time.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Dr. C. H. Wilkinson
- · Robert Wilke
Themes & tags
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