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primary accommodations consisted of rough tents or open air campsites. The oldest surviving cottages were built closest to the prayer circle, with newer structures radiating outward from that point. Like other camps of the era, Asbury Grove slowly evolved to include permanent structures such as a dining hall, bakery, post office, and railroad ticket office. By 1875, the society tents were replaced by two story wood structures, five of which remain today.
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is owned by the
Methodist church, many of the cottages are held as private residences and 100 of the remaining 153 adhere to their original design. About 30 of the structures are small modern homes or cottages that have been altered enough that they no longer retain their historical characteristics. Overall, the cottages are still used as summer residences, but 60 have been winterized for year-round use.
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125:" in 1800. The movement spread to the southern United States and other parts of the country thereafter. Meetings typically lasted several days and included intensive services, prayer, and bible study. Although Asbury Grove is a Methodist community, other religious groups such as the Presbyterians and Baptists also joined this movement.
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The Asbury Camp
Meeting Association introduced more social activities in the late 19th and early 20th century. Though Methodist preaching was still a strong influence, programs for children and youths, bible conferences, patriotic rallies, and recreational activities such as baseball and tennis began
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Aside from a rigid structure to the day, personal activity was also regulated. No vehicles (wagons, automobiles, etc.) were permitted to enter during preaching services. Smoking was prohibited in the prayer circle at all times, and alcohol was strongly discouraged, even in private cottages and tents.
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Reverend Gorham proposed that camp life should be modest, and most early camp meetings reflected this ideology by constructing only cloth tents (participants paid a small fee to rent a tent site) and wooden preaching stands. Gorham also encouraged the use of “society tents” where smaller groups could
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A typical day at Asbury Grove began at 5:30 a.m. followed by breakfast served promptly at 6:30 a.m. Preaching services were scheduled for 10:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., interrupted by lunch at noon, and the evening meal at 5:00 p.m. Each society also held a prayer
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Still active today, Asbury Grove now covers 83 forested acres, set out in much the same pattern as the initial design. Historians believe this layout was heavily influenced by the Camp
Meeting Manual as it adheres to a circular plan which was popular for camp meetings at the time. Although the land
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Camp participants came from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. A resident directory from the late 19th and early 20th century includes entries for a shoe manufacturer, teamster, oil dealer, carpenter, and a tin ware dealer. This kind of diversity was part of the philosophy that camp meetings
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The latter part of the 19th century saw the camp meeting movement gain momentum and vitality. The years from 1870 to 1879 marked the largest period of growth for the Asbury Grove camp. During this time, over 200 cottages were built. This was a marked change from the site's early years where the
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The first meeting at Asbury Grove was held in the third week of August, 1859, and attracted 2,000 people at its inception. Some reports state that by the end of that first week, the attendance had grown to nearly 12,000. As with other camp meetings in other towns, these were major events, often
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religious movement popular in the mid-19th century. Originally set on seventy-five acres of land, the camp was founded by the
Methodist church in 1857. Ten of the original seventy-five acres were purchased from Joseph Dodge, a local farmer. This land included a farmhouse, which later became the
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2009 marked the 150th anniversary of continuous annual camp meetings at Asbury Grove. In preparation, the Asbury Camp
Meeting Association renovated many of the common buildings, including the tabernacle, kitchen, and dining hall. The camp has also hosted a number of worship services, social
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By the late 19th century, camp meetings were declining in popularity across the United States. This change had as much to do with society's movement away from the religious fervency of the 18th and 19th centuries as with the ease of travel caused by extensive railroad construction and the
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A series of other fires and severe weather in the first half of the 20th century also damaged many of the cottages and the camp's property. Thereafter, a portion of the damaged structures were rebuilt, but some were left as empty lots or allowed to fall into disrepair.
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Asbury Grove's main preaching venue became The Circle, which was surrounded by 36 large tents (one for each of the member churches). These large tents had wood walls measuring six feet high, a canvas roof, and the ground inside was often covered in straw.
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meeting one half-hour after each meal. Curfew was at 10:00 p.m. each night, enforced by a policeman (and later, in the 1940s, by an Asbury Camp
Meeting Association member) on patrol to look for people walking about or lights on inside cottages.
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Churches of God in the United States of America Harrisburg: Board or Directors of the Publishing House and Book Rooms of the Churches of God
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140:) it was created specifically so that two dozen Methodist churches of the Lynn and Boston districts could have easier access to revival meetings.
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introduction of the automobile. A fire in 1927 caused extensive damage to the camp and many of the cottages were marred or destroyed entirely.
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The camp grounds were used in the summer months by
Methodist congregations from towns along the North Shore of Massachusetts (such as
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Vincent, Hebron (1858) History of
Wesleyan Grove, Martha's Vineyard, Camp Meeting Boston: G.C. Rand & Avery
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were to be retreats from everyday life where participants focused on religious devotion and not worldly goods.
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Brown, Kenneth O. (1992) Holy Ground: A Study of the
American Camp Meeting New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
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Grimes, Reverend John Franklin (1922) The Romance of the American Camp Meeting Cincinnati: The Caxton Press
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Richardson, Faith (History of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, 1796–1995) (
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gatherings, cottage tours, theater productions, and sporting events in observance of this occasion.
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Lee, Jesse (1810) A Short History of Methodists in the United States Baltimore: Magill and Clime
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doubling or tripling (or, multiplying even further) a town's population during the gathering.
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Although Asbury Grove was not the first camp in Massachusetts (it was preceded by camps on
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Beard, Christine The Boston Globe Meeting Ground at Asbury Grove (March 1, 1998)
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Adams, Doug (1981) Meeting House to Camp Meeting Saratoga: Resource Publications
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https://web.archive.org/web/20100706162709/http://www.neumc.org/pages/detail/74
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Weiss, Ellen. (1998) City in the Woods Boston: Northeastern University Press
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts
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Scott, Harvey (2007) Religion, Theology, and Morals Kessinger Publishing
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Asbury Grove Directory (Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1905)
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Gorham, Reverend B. W. (1854) Camp Meeting Manual Boston: H.V. Degen
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National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts
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U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
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Wesley House, one of the original Asbury Grove dormitories
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A trolley at the Asbury Grove stop in the early 1900s
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Camp meetings can be traced the back to Kentucky's "
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Buildings and structures in Hamilton, Massachusetts
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107:National Register of Historic Places
98:). The camp was named after Bishop
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111:Asbury Grove Historic District
18:Asbury Grove Historic District
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1006:Campgrounds in Massachusetts
66:L. B. Bates Memorial Library
911:National Historic Landmarks
105:The camp was listed on the
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1001:Methodism in Massachusetts
906:Cape Cod National Seashore
338:http://www.asburygrove.org
156:The Circle at Asbury Grove
83:Superintendent's Cottage.
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960:United States portal
78:, was formed during the
39:latest accepted revision
393:42.624722°N 70.887417°W
319:Rev. B. W. Gorham, 1854
76:Hamilton, Massachusetts
457:Keeper of the Register
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452:Contributing property
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874:northwestern
635:Essex County
384:70°53′14.7″W
381:42°37′29.0″N
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80:camp meeting
72:Asbury Grove
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47:13 June 2024
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37:This is the
31:
894:Other lists
854:Southbridge
734:Marlborough
688:Springfield
621:New Bedford
396: /
310:Beard, 2009
267:Weiss, 1998
215:Present day
144:Early years
975:Categories
784:Winchester
759:Somerville
719:Framingham
647:Gloucester
616:Fall River
595:Barnstable
502:Barnstable
248:References
169:Peak years
864:Worcester
800:Brookline
769:Wakefield
724:Lexington
709:Cambridge
704:Arlington
567:Worcester
547:Nantucket
542:Middlesex
537:Hampshire
507:Berkshire
113:in 2009.
92:Groveland
936:Category
859:Uxbridge
836:southern
831:northern
764:Stoneham
754:Sherborn
657:Lawrence
571:northern
557:Plymouth
527:Franklin
236:See also
130:Cape Cod
43:reviewed
901:Bridges
869:eastern
774:Waltham
749:Reading
739:Medford
714:Concord
667:Methuen
652:Ipswich
642:Andover
626:Taunton
600:Harwich
562:Suffolk
552:Norfolk
532:Hampden
512:Bristol
198:Decline
109:as the
96:Reading
916:Boston
826:Boston
810:Quincy
805:Milton
779:Weston
744:Newton
729:Lowell
445:Topics
94:, and
672:Salem
522:Essex
517:Dukes
362:)1992
662:Lynn
132:and
88:Lynn
136:on
45:on
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299:^
256:^
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569:(
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