History_The Tent Colony and Black Hawk Cabin (1912-1960)

Beginning about 1912, and extending through the end of the 1950's, the university operated a "Tent Colony", sometimes called "Camp Gallistella" (after its overseer, A. F. Gallistel), on 25.2 acres of the wooded area below Eagle Heights, on land that was between Lake Mendota Drive and the lake. Students were able to live inexpensively here during the summer months. Gallistel himself in a house near the east end of the colony.

Another university-related facility in this area was the cottage operated by the Women's Athletic Association, which was built near the west end of the university property. The association was granted a ninety-nine year lease by the Regents and raised $3,500 to build the cottage, which was completed by February 1, 1924. It was used for a number of years as a destination for hikers from the campus, but by the late 1930's, with the coming of automobile, it was no longer serving a useful function, since the students now preferred to go farther afield for amusement. Because it could not be adequately protected from vandalism at such a remote location, the cabin was turned over to the Memorial Union, which changed its name to Black Hawk Lodge. The Union extensively remodeled the cottage, installing electricity, telephone, and a kitchen, and a graduate couple was contracted to live there as chaperones. Black Hawk Lodge was promoted as a "drop-in" shelter for students hiking, skiiing, biking, and canoeing, but fell into disuse after World War II. The land on which the lodge stood later fell into private ownership and the cabin was demolished sometime in the 1960's.

From the time of the Raymer purchase in 1911, until the late 1930's, the university controlled an extensive shoreline of over about 3500 feet that ran from the Gallistel house west to the corporate limits of the Village of Shorewood Hills. However, the university ownership of all this land was not to last, since some of it was traded as part of the acquisition of Picnic Point.

Reprinted from Historic Madison: A Journal of the Four Lake Region, Volume XII: 1995. Copyright: Historic Madison, Inc.