Our Story

Camp Pattersonville was founded by a small group of friends who shared a common vision and “fixed their eyes on Jesus” to bring it to life. In the 1940’s a woman named Anna Meahl, who lived in the stockade area of Schenectady NY, spent her summer days entertaining the children who were out of school. She invited the children into her own backyard in order to lead them away from the trouble that beckoned them from the streets of the Stockade. Mrs. Meahl offered the children a safe place to play, afternoon snacks and a cool drink on a hot day, as well as sharing Bible stories and her faith with them. Mrs. Meahl saw a need in those children for a safe way to spend their summer vacation.

​Anna Meahl was not alone. There were others who saw the need and felt called to care for the children. An idea came up, to make a summer camp for the children to go to. Then a piece of property came up for sale. The founders of Camp Pattersonville, by the grace of God, managed to scrape together the money to purchase the property, located on a hill in the small rural town of Pattersonville.
Once the property had been purchased, Mrs. Meahl and her friends had only a very short time to plan for camp before Camp Pattersonville welcomed its first campers. That first summer, in 1948, some things at Camp were very different than they are today… but other things were very much the same. Today, the staff members at Camp Pattersonville still “fix their eyes on Jesus” as they care for each camper and share their faith. Today, God is still at work at Camp Pattersonville.