Family Through & Through: Bakers Acre RV Park
Strength And Dedication Gives Rise To Cherished Campground Still Standing Since 1968 With 250 Camping Sites
As a third generation member of the family that owns Baker’s Acres Campground in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, Monica A. Baker-Frazer is part of a living history that she grew up learning about.
“It started in ‘68 and I wasn’t born until ‘82, but it’s like our family story, so I’ve heard it quite often,” she explains, and then launches into the history of the campground. “My grandfather--my father’s father--loved camping. [He and his family] used to try and go camping often because it was the only thing they could do with their family that they could afford.”
A World War II veteran, Monica’s grandfather, John Baker, suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Camping was a comforting experience that soothed him. He and his wife, Anne, enjoyed camping with their family so much that they began to dream about one day owning their own campground. A chance encounter with a local politician put them on the path to fulfilling their dream.
“So, they met this guy who was the mayor of Barnegat, New Jersey, at the time, and he owned the property where the campground is now,” Baker-Frazer explains. “He was so moved by my grandfather’s passion to start a family campground, he sold the property to my grandfather and held the note because they couldn’t afford to get a mortgage for that amount of land.”
In 1965, John and Anne moved their family to a house on the property and began working on building the campground. Because John worked for Bass River Forest during the day, John and Anne spent most of their evenings clearing campsites by the light of car headlights.
By 1968, enough sites were cleared that the Bakers could officially open for business. Their 46 sites filled quickly. They were living their dream, putting everything they had into making the campground a welcoming place for their campers.
“My grandmom had so much on her plate,” Baker-Frazer reflects. “She had five kids, the campground, she worked home parties [selling clothes].... She just did so many things to try and make the campground work. Before the campground, she was doing these things so they had money to do little things with the family like camping, and then once the campground [opened]...she did this so that they had extra money because all of their extra money went into the campground. Every penny they made they put back into the campground. She’s still alive; she’s 92 now, and she’s such a trooper. She’s inspiring.”
The Bakers pressed onward through legal issues in the early years. Wanting the campground land for a quarry, the township rezoned the land and closed Baker’s Acres for non-conforming use. The Bakers nearly went bankrupt in battling the township, but in 1970 they opened their doors again and wasted no time in expanding so they could welcome more campers.
In 1977, tragedy struck again when John was killed in a forest fire. Through their grief, the Baker family carried on.
“My dad kind of got thrown into a leadership role,” Baker-Frazer says. “He was just a teenager. He and my grandmom ran [the campground] for a while. And then he and my mom got married and in the early ‘90s they started buying it from my grandma. They paid it off and they’re the sole proprietors now. And we’ve been here since the beginning. We were born into it, literally. We've just always worked it. We had outside jobs, too, but we always came back to the campground.”
Monica’s parents, Jack and Maureen Baker, have owned the campground since 1991. However, Anne Baker is still a large presence at the campground. Though retired, she still lives in a home near enough to the campground that she can climb into her golf cart and ride over to visit with her family and the campers.
Today, Baker-Frazer is instrumental in the day-to-day operation of the campground. While she grew up there, she now lives less than ten minutes away, in town with her family. The Baker family history and the campground they’ve built is a great source of pride for her.
“When I was younger, I always felt like I was in this role that I didn’t really do anything to earn,” she recalls. “I wasn’t carving my own path, I was just treading down this path that everyone else had already set up…. As I’ve gotten older, and I’ve been to a lot of campgrounds, and talked with a lot of campground owners and a lot of campers that have come here from other places...they tell us all the time that [Baker’s Acres] is just so friendly and genuine. And that makes me feel really happy because that’s us, you know? It’s us operating the campground now, and we are making people come back by treating them the way they should be treated. We try to make the campground as peaceful and happy and safe and clean as possible so that people want to come back, and they do.”
Some of her regular customers are families who have enjoyed the camping at Baker's Acres for generations.
“There’s three generations of campers out there--people who camped when my grandparents owned it and now their kids are bringing their kids. They love the campground so much that the families just keep coming back. That’s just amazing to me.”
Baker-Frazer never met her grandfather, but her family--especially her father, Jack--are doing all they can to stay true to the vision that John and Anne Baker had for their campground.
“Every tree here reminds [my dad] of his dad. He hates cutting down trees...he’s like the steward of the land…. It all reminds him of walking it with his dad. He lost his dad as a teenager so unexpectedly, so he’s very attached to everything…. I always felt very strongly connected to [my grandfather]....the memory of him that my dad kept alive … [its] a very strong connection to the person I was told about….”
Through the years, Baker’s Acres has grown to 250 camping sites, and the Baker family plans to continue expanding. They have a prime location near the Jersey shore, in a rural section of Little Egg Harbor that is just on the edge of the Pine Barrens.
And they of course intend to continue providing the exceptional family camping experience that has been the hallmark of their family business for three generations.
“It sounds so cheesy, but it’s like a bubble of happiness…. If you’re in the campground, it’s just such a natural feeling where everyone feels so peaceful and included and it doesn’t feel false. It’s just a genuine feeling of being happy to be here. It’s something you can’t really replicate outside of a campground.”
Kailyn Clay
A graduate of Trinity Christian College with degrees in English and Political Science, Kailyn has written for GEMS Girls’ Clubs, Spark Hire, The Grand Haven Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, and other sources. She enjoys reading, writing, and camping.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Bakers Acre RV Park, offering the best in family camping at the New Jersey shore, with 300 large and shaded campsites set amidst 60 acres of mountain laurel and natural. The staff is welcoming and very friendly to all that arrive.