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Mattituck and Laurel were home to three different summer camps during the mid-20th Century. Camp Momoweta and Camp Molloy were overnight camps for boys located on opposite ends of Laurel Lake. Camp Catholic Daughters of America, which later became Camp Immaculata, was an overnight catholic girls' camp located on Peconic Bay in Mattituck. Histories of each camp are provided in .pdf format.
Camp Momoweta was a boy's camp on Laurel Lake in Mattituck that opened in July 1947. The camp was established by Major John H. Pupurca and his wife, Ruth. Mr. Pupurca was a reserve officer in the Marine Corps with a B.S.P.E. from Purdue University. Ruth was a graduate of Indiana State Teachers College. The camp had ten cabins, a mess hall, an infirmary, a central wash hall with showers, and the directors’ cottage. Camp Momoweta also had a newly seeded playing field, a three-hole golf course, a dock and diving float, a swimming crib for beginners, and a fleet of small boats and canoes.
Camp Molloy, and its sister camp, Camp Immaculata (originally called Camp Catholic Daughters of America), were camps founded by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn in 1926 for children from the city to enjoy part of their summer in the country. Mrs. Annie Silkworth sold her property on the Main Road to the Diocese so it could be developed into a camp. Camp Molloy provided outdoor activities for innumerable children in its 50 year span. The camp closed in 1977.
Camp Catholic Daughters of America (CDA) was opened in Mattituck in 1927. Camp CDA was a diocesan girls’ camp sponsored and under the management of the Catholic Daughters of America, of Brooklyn and Long Island. By 1930, the camp had at least twelve bungalows, a new recreation hall, a spacious dining hall, an administration building, an infirmary, a chapel, and offices.