07/02/2026
Happy 4th. of July!!! In the early 20th. century if you wanted to have a fun-filled time you would head over to Amory Grove as it was a popular place to hold town and civic festivities. This area of land, along the Mill Pond, was known as the Cheney Farm before being owned by Amory and Mary (Priest) Maynard. Workers in the Assabet Mill would walk from the west part of town on this land to access their jobs in Building #5 and other buildings in the mill.
An 1889 Map of Maynard by Walker shows the Mill Pond and Amory Grove locations. Although already on the map, this area wasn’t officially known as Amory Grove until 1899. It was a well-used spot for recreational activities.
Now getting back to the 4th. of July activities held there - in the early 20th. century it was used every year by the St. Bridget’s Church congregation for annual 4th. of July picnics. These picnics would be a part of town-wide festivities and would attract townspeople and people from the area in surrounding towns. In 1899 the event was billed as “come eat your dinner in the shade.”
The church would set up in the morning and then would have entertainment, games, and plenty of food (until it ran out) all day long. Normally they would have Vaudeville entertainment, from Boston, start off the picnic and then repeat in the afternoon. Some examples of musical entertainment were Sweeney’s Orchestra, Acton Cadet Band, Concord Junction Brass Band, Maynard Brass Band where people could celebrate the holiday by listening to music while eating or dancing. At this picnic they would also have plenty of athletic activities. Through the years they had wrestling matches, several running races, and shoe tying matches. The town also had baseball games vs. Hudson, etc. (at Crowe Park which was established between 1901-1908) which crowds would walk from there to the St. Bridget’s 4th. of July Picnic so the Grove was constantly full of activity all day long. When it was dark out people would shoot off fireworks from the picnic grounds and around Mill Pond.
Besides the annual 4th. of July picnic held by St. Bridget’s Church Amory Grove was also used by other organizations as a recreation area. For instance, in 1902 The Finn Brass Band sought permission from Lorenzo Maynard to use Amory Grove every Saturday during the summer to hold a series of picnics and band concerts. In 1913 townsfolk started to call for a public park, like Crowe Park, on the small hill, Amory Grove, across from St. Bridget’s Church but it was denied as the land was owned by the mill.
With the popularity of driving to work the Mill Pond was partially filled in when the Maynard Industries owned the mill in 1957. Another partial filling of the Mill Pond happened in the 1970’s when Digital needed to expand the parking lots for their employees. So over time Amory Grove was flattened and graded for parking.
On November 28th., 2022 the recently completed Maynard Fire Station, to replace the aged one at 1 Summer St. in Maynard, began its service to the town on part of the land that was once known as Amory Grove.
Research and text by Brion Humphrey Berghaus - Maynard Historical Commission member.
