Long Gone Alpine Campground Orchard Park NY

June 20, 2012 10:26 AM

In the 1980s there was a campground in Orchard Park, NY (a suburb of Buffalo) on Ellicott Road. It closed sometime around 1989. It was called Alpine. I can't find a single mention of it on the internet and would love to know more about the place. It was right here. The camping is long gone, but the quarry is still there and some of the buildings are still standing. I only have fuzzy memories of going there as a kid and I'm trying to learn more about it.

It may actually be West Falls, NY or maybe Aurora NY as all three towns comes together right in that area.

posted by Blake to travel & transportation (4 answers total)

I can't believe there's a question about my hometown! Googling is thus far fruitless but the Orchard Park Historical Society may have what you're looking for. They apparently don't have a website but the yelp page lists a phone number.
posted by troika at 11:12 AM on June 20, 2012

....and contact information for the Orchard Park Public Library, which if I recall correctly has a section on OP History (at the very least, some old area maps, which could give you more exact jurisdictional information. It's so close to the 14127/14170 border it may have changed within the past 25 years).
posted by troika at 11:18 AM on June 20, 2012

Another Orchard Park native here (who knew there were so many)! While this campground doesn't ring a bell to me, I will check with my friend, another native, who did do a lot of camping and outdoor/nature things. It might sound familiar to her.
posted by ElleElle at 11:48 AM on June 20, 2012

So I did ask at the library, got a bit of answer...

The Grosvenor Room staff of the B&ECPL was unable to find any citations to Camp Alpine in our Local History File, our Vertical Files or our Scrapbook collections. The library does own some past editions of Woodall's Campground Directories from the 70s and 80s. Editions from 1975 and 1976 do not list the camp, but 1980 and 1984 editions list the Alpine Recreation Area under the Orchard Park heading, under New York State. Some of the information provided in the directories is as follows:

Lakeside campground with over 100 sites, some with water and electricity, flush/chemical toilets, hot showers, limited grocery, picnic tables and fire rings, etc. Recreation includes a rec hall for teens, pavilion, lake swimming, boating, canoes and boat rentals, fishing, horseshoes, ski rental, scuba diving and volleyball, etc. An ad for the site highlights the "Exciting 350' Waterslide."

You may wish to contact the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, www.bechs.org, the Orchard Park Historical Society (Facebook or 716-667-2301) or the Orchard Park Historical Museum (Facebook or phone # [phone]) for more information.
posted by Blake at 11:45 AM on June 27, 2012