Dr. William Lee Secor was born is Ossining, NY in 1879. We think he attended medical school in Ohio and then was a doctor in Chicago. In 1911, Dr. Secor was suffering from chronic, debilitating rheumatoid arthritis, which greatly impacted his quality of life and abilities as a surgeon. He read that the mild climate of Kerrville, TX would be ideal, so he relocated his family. He set up a true operating room in Kerrville, which provided surgical aid to patients all over central and west Texas that previously had to travel to San Antonio for care. He and his family lived upstairs in the Secor Hospital (then located near Main Street and Sidney Baker). He was a passionate outdoorsman. He followed the teachings of Izaac Walton, who published books about land conservation, wildlife management and sustainable fishing (www.IWLA.org).
In 1921, Dr. Secor purchased multiple riverfront properties in West Kerr County, with the idea that he and his friends would escape “city life” and get back to nature. This section of the Guadalupe River was famed for its excellent Black Bass, Crappie, Catfish and Perch fishing. Two years later, 1923, “Camp Waltonia”(named after Izaac Walton), was opened as a fishing camp for men. The camp consisted of a dining hall, a bath house, simple one room cabins and tent camping sites. Cottages were available then for $1.00 per day! The historic 1932 flood washed away the main bathhouse that was located just below the white fence. Later, “Camp Waltonia” was re-opened as a family camp with 14 cabins (no attached bathrooms, guests shared bath houses).
In 1939, Dr. Secor’s son and daughter in law, Bill & Mae Secor, became the owner-managers. (Bill & Mae met at the Secor Hospital while Mae was a nurse) Three children (Edward, Thornton & Shirley) were born and raised here, while valued customers and long-life friends were made. Many long-time campers remember Bill & Mae spending hours each evening playing cards and dominos with guests. We remember visiting our grandparents at Waltonia, with “Mema’s” strict midnight cutoff of the pavilion lights, huge glass jars of hard candy in the office, and cold chocolate bars camper kids could get from her fridge. And even though they renamed the business to “Waltonia Lodges”, in our family we still call this place “the camp”. Bill and Mae retired in 1983, after 44 summers.
Thornton Secor, wife Pam, and children Neal & Mandi, became owner-managers in the summer of 1983. They worked hard to continue the tradition of Waltonia, ensuring the next generation of campers could make memories on the Guadalupe River. We added cabins 15 & 16 in the late 1980s, then tore down and rebuilt cabins 7, 8, 12, 13 & 14 in the late 1990s.
2021, the 4th generation of Secors (Neal & Mandi) took over management of Waltonia. We grew up living and working at Waltonia, so the legacy of this place is so special to us. We hope our long-time guests will be excited about the improvements we are making each year, and that new families will want to join in on the fun.
Summer of 2022 brings many changes, including a name change to “Waltonia on the River”.
(We get asked a lot about the property next door. The main home was built in the late 1800s for the Sherman family (John, his wife and many children). They owned Sherman’s Mill (near the Waltonia crossing), which ground corn and sawed lumber. The mill was destroyed in the 1932 flood. In the 1920s, the Crate brothers purchased the house. One brother built the boys summer camp “Camp Rio Vista” just up the road in Ingram. They needed accommodations for parents, so the other brothers built “Rio Vista Lodge” which had small, one room cabins (some were single cabins, and some were two cabins that shared a breezeway). They added a dirt floor dining hall to the left side of the main house. Most of the cabins were damaged in the historic 1932 flood and were not repaired.