Asbury Grove Methodist Camp Meeting, Hamilton MA

Asbury Grove Hamilton MA

The Asbury Grove Methodist Camp Meeting on Asbury St. in Hamilton is listed in the National Register of Historic Districts, and has a collection of historic buildings that were built between 1870 and 1960. The land is owned by the Association, while the houses are owned individually by the residents.

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12,000 people, most from Boston, attended the first camp meeting in 1859. A pulpit and wooden benches were erected in a pine grove and guests slept in large tents on platforms. These gave way to over 300 cottages constructed by the beginning of the 20th Century. The site included a chapel, library, dining hall, hotel, bakery, post office and even its own jail.

The Circle Asbury Grove, MA
“The Circle” at Asbury Grove
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The Asbury Grove cafe was a trolley stop
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At its height in the late 1800s, trains and trolleys arrived with visitors up to a dozen times a day. As Society moved away from the religious fervency of the 18th and 19th centuries, camp meeting declined. A fire in 1927 destroyed many of the buildings, but the community continues to this day. The pulpit, tabernacle, library, dining hall, baker and over 100 cottages still stand.

Asbury Grove Methodist Campground
Cottages at Asbury Grove Methodist Camp Meeting

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