The Beginning...

Nestled in the foothills in the northwest corner of Middlesex County, Camp Middlesex on Erickson Road in Ashby, Massachusetts displays a unique vintage today as it did when first sighted by a camp committee in 1941. A 1700 era Grist Mill and Saw Mill are connected by the covered foot bridge over the water of Willard Brook. A very sturdy bridge spans over the water dam, and is the only access to the seventy-five acres of beautiful rolling fields and trails. A farmhouse beside the main road has a barn attached to it, and another barn is about 200 hundred feet up the paved road. The stable is located down a woodland path out in the hillside close to the lowest part of the property where the water cascades over moss covered rocks.

In the eleven years before this site was found, the campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst hosted all Camp Middlesex youth and their programs. Tents were pitched on lawns and slept in. Some buildings were used for a dining hall and rainy day recreation. A trip to camp took a whole day and campers traveled caravan style to Amherst. 4-H Club work in those days taught the basics of living, cooking, sewing, field crops, animal husbandry, woodworking and the like. The campus at U. Mass. was an economical campsite, but the problem was that it did not give anyone a feeling of belonging.

When the farmer decided what he wanted for this farmland situated next to the New Hampshire border and six miles from the center of Fitchburg, the fund raising began! Everyone involved in camp set out to raise the appropriate funds to purchase the proposed land for camp! Bake sales, housework, handy work, jobs, and various volunteers joined in on this effort to make Camp Middlesex a reality!

At first, much work was done to clear the land of overgrowth and make room for camping facilities. The farmhouse was set up to serve meals and house those who ran camp. A Board of Trustees was formed to oversee Camp Middlesex until its incorporation in 1941 when The Middlesex County Foundation, Inc. was established, an independent non-profit organization.

1942-1960

Five small cabins were built on the hillside with a three sided cabin directly on top of the majestic hill. Wells were dug for water and pipes were laid out for the future dining hall and infirmary, which came in 1952 from Fort Devens and was assembled overlooking the brook. The dining hall was a former barracks building while the infirmary was an officer’s quarter.  Each building was built originally for World War I in 1917. 

Pictures of the dining hall and infirmary.
The picture in the bottom right is what the buildings looked like at Fort Devens.

More fund raising needed to be done to outfit the kitchen area and build a cabin for the cooks to stay in. Interested donors helped to build six cabins on the lower side of Bowditch Hill. Two wash houses with toilets, a cabin for the Nurse, a three sided Pioneer cabin was built in 1952 by the Woburn Kiwanis who have given the Camp a tremendous amount of skilled help.

1961-2000

Erickson Lodge was constructed on the side of the main lawn and into the hillside in 1968, with extreme campaign efforts to house the Director and his family. Six new cabins were built on the pine wooded side of the hill to replace the old lower cabins which were prone to erosion when it rained. A large recreation hall was dedicated in 1971, and an addition to the kitchen was built in 1975. Programs for campers grew with each addition.

2000-2009

In 2000, a new building campaign started, and Camp Middlesex began to invest more capital into improving the facility. In 2001, a new nature shack was constructed overlooking the gorge to accommodate the nature program. Work has continued on restoring the Gristmill and Thorston Barn. Also, construction began on Alumni Lodge which was completed in 2006. Alumni Lodge houses all of the camp’s administrative offices, staff lounge area, laundry facilities, and camp store. During the off season, the building is used as a conference center for rental groups. In 2009, the Simonds Memorial Pool (honoring the late Robert “Bob” Simonds, 3rd from left in the photo below) was constructed on Bowditch Hill to house the camp’s swimming program.

2010-2019

In 2010, an addition was built onto Lower Staff Cabin. That cabin, which is now called Blackberry, can hold up to 12 campers and staff.  In 2016, the camp celebrated its 75th birthday with the completion of the John L Brophy Memorial Bridge that spans Willard Brook (pictured below).  The infirmary was renamed the Chase House to honor longtime camp nurse, Kathy Chase.

Camp Board of Directors in 2019.
Photo Taken at the former Cafe 893 in Ashby.

Today

In 2020, the camp faced its first global pandemic and the state closed down its overnight program.  However, camp continued to operate with only day campers during the summer.  Despite the downturn of enrollment and revenue, the camp was able construct a new septic system and basketball court beside Brown Hall thanks to generous support from Shepherd’s in Townsend.  The septic system replaces the former system that was beginning to fail.

In January 2024, The University of Massachusetts Amherst decided to not renew each of the Massachusetts 4-H Camps Memorandum of Agreements due to lack of resources UMass has available to provide each of the camps.  Thus, Camp Middlesex, along with the four other 4-H Camps, are no longer affiliated with the 4-H program.  Camp Middlesex is an independent non-profit organization, and despite some changes in traditions, continues to operate as a traditional summer camp.

Camp Middlesex continues to grow each summer and has a long-standing history of providing a traditional summer camp experience to the youth that attend each summer.  There is a flagpole on the main green where everyone at Camp gathers behind their cabin rocks morning and evening for raising and lowering the American and International flags. There is also a huge Memorial Circle at the near top of the Bowditch Hill where bonfires are lit and singing and stories are told. This is truly a special place!