Located near the Asbury Grove Chapel in Hamilton, MA, this Craftsman style library building shows how the camp evolved into the 20th century. The library was constructed in 1910 with a rectangular floor plan and is enclosed by a hip roof with deep eaves lined by exposed roof rafters, consistent with its Craftsman-style design. The L.B. Bates Memorial Library was named after the first chaplain for Asbury Grove, who contributed a large number of books to start a library. 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 introduction of the automobile
