In order to prepare for the camp's first operation in 1952, a new swimming pier was added, and the kitchen was improved with the purchase of new food services equipment. The existing cabins were used to house the campers and staff. The attendance for that first season was 1,243 boys and girls, and four two-week encampments were operated. Only one child per family, ages 10 and 11, was allowed to attend, and no child was permitted to return to camp for the following season.

In 1954, at a cost of $120,000, Camp William Penn underwent significant capital improvement. A new Boys' Camp was constructed, consisting of 28 new cabins and 7 new lodges. The Philadelphia Rotary Club donated a sum of money, and a cabin was dedicated in their name. The porch of the Dining Hall was extended as a "temporary" addition to accommodate the campers, and is still in use today. For the first eight years, the girls campers were housed in the Camp Girard cabins, most of which have now been replaced.

In 1962, an additional 127 acres of land adjacent to Camp William Penn became available for purchase at a cost of $29,000. With the purchase of this property from the Toth Estate, the city now owned the whole of Lake Herrick, plus the Beaver Dam Pond. The new acquisition included an eighteenth century farmhouse, Lakeview Cottage, plus a barn, both of which are still in use. A capital appropriation $100,000 was used to develop the Girls' Camp on this new site, with six unit lodges, twenty-four cabins and two shower-houses. A new recreation hall was added for Boys' Camp.

As a result of direct intervention by Mayor Richardson Dilworth and Governor David Lawrence, a new road was completed by the state through the camp property to take the place of Snow Hill Road, so that the main flow of traffic no longer passed through the center of camp. By 1962, the total capital investment by the city in Camp William Penn was $274,000.