Assabet River NWR Final CCP - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Chapter 3: Refuge and Resource Descriptions
The Army’s historic uses of the land area formerly known as the Sudbury
Training Annex have been researched by the U.S. Army Environmental
Center, and its contractors (U.S. Army 1995). The information was
collected through various record searches, interviews, and map reviews. A
summary of that information is presented in this section; a fuller
description of the Army’s land-use history is provided in the U.S. Army’s
1995 Draft Master Environmental Plan, Fort Devens Sudbury Training
Annex, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (prepared by ABB
Environmental Service, Inc., Portland, ME for the U.S. Army
Environmental Center, Aberdeen, MD. December, 1995.)
Prior to the formal formation of the Annex as a military facility in 1942, the
land was privately owned and primarily used as farmland. According to a
Goldberg Zoino and Associates (GZA) report some of the land “was owned
by industrial companies (such as the Diamond Match Company or Maynard
Woolen Mills).” The Annex itself consisted of land falling within the
boundaries of the towns of Sudbury, Maynard, Marlboro, Hudson and Stow
(GZA 1991).
The Annex became government property in 1942, when a formal petition
was filed by the United States to acquire the land by eminent domain
(District Court of United States for District of Massachusetts, Misc. Civil
no. 6507, March 25, 1942). The location was selected for strategic reasons --
it was well out of range of naval guns - and for its close proximity to four
active railroad lines. On August 16, 1942, the area was
designated Boston Backup Storage Facility under the
Commanding General of Boston Port of Embarkation.
Transfer of the then 3,100-acre property occurred on
November 10, 1942 (U.S. Army 1995).
The Annex was originally used to store surplus ammunition
for the war effort. It was named the Maynard Ammunition
Backup Storage Point (MABSP). Initially, the Annex served
as part of the Boston Port of Embarkation system, and was
specifically tied to Castle Island Port, the loading point for
One of the U.S. Army’s buildings at the refuge:
ammunition being transported overseas. When ships were
Photo by Marijke Holtrop
not available for loading, or a surplus of ammunition had
been received, ordnance will be stored at the MABSP. Provision for the
safe storage of ordnance was ensured by the construction of 50 earthcovered
concrete bunkers located around the central section of the Annex.
Railroad spurs were developed to provide access between bunkers and the
existing main railroad lines (U.S. Army 1995).
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In 1946, the facility became part of Watertown Arsenal and was referred to
as Watertown Arsenal (Maynard). The facility was apparently used as a
storage depot until 1950, when it was transferred to the first Army and
became a subinstallation of Fort Devens from 1950 to 1952 for storage and
training. In 1952, the facility was again transferred from Fort Devens
Assabet River NWR