Camp Rota-Y-Ki / Sacarusa

36.074577275067, -78.904973407189

Durham
NC
Year built
1921
Year demolished
1947
Architectural style
Construction type
Neighborhood
Use
Building Type
Local ID
Durham plat book 17, page 146
Durham plat book 6a, page 71
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(The Rotarian, Summer 1929)

Not sure of the exact location of this, but Jean Anderson noeds that it was at "Roxboro Road and the Eno River."

She notes:

"It was the Rotary Club, for example, that began a school lunch program in 1924 for poor children, made loans to high school boys to enable them to remain in school, and persuaded the YMCA to establish a summer camp for boys on the Eno River at Roxboro Road, at first called Camp Rota-Y-Ki (a name that reveals the Kiwanis' participation) and later called Camp Sacarusa.

(Durham High School Messenger - 1938, via DigitalNC)

In a 1934 Duke Alumni register about Indian artifact archeology in Durham County, the camp can be somewhat located by the following description of a a site:

"On the south bank of the Eno River, not far below Christian's Mill and just opposite Camp Sacarusa, there is field in which numerous artifacts, including a fragment of pottery, have been found."

Sacarusa was a Tuscarora Indian chief - noted on several land sales and leases in 1803-1805. (Along with Chief Longboard)

There is some indication that the building(s) may have burned, and the organization purchased land for Camp Kanata in 1947, which succeeded Sacarusa. (This is unconfirmed)

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