Camp Sunrise (Sunrise Academy), Scituate RI

[Hellion1027]

So, anyone remember this place?  Sunrise Academy was a small private K-8 school in Scituate just southwest of the reservoir.  In the summer it became Camp Sunrise, a summer camp geared for ages 3-16 (if my memory serves me right) which operated from 1971-2004.  I went to camp here from 99-03, and after 2004 or 2005 it completely shut down for good.  A little over a year ago my brother and I went to check it out and reminisce, and damn it's creepy there.  The once loud and lively camp was now a vacant and silent wasteland.  Nothing was removed, every building and shed still stands, though rotting and overgrown.  The sheds at each activity area were left full (there's even a shed full of bikes at the BMX are) and there are objects littered about everywhere.  Last I heard the owner of both the school and camp had moved off the property with his wife due to health issues.  I know it hasn't completely been forgotten, as on the beach area (labeled in the pic) there is a lot of evidence of partying.

Also on the property are the Grant's Cabins, an abandoned vacation spot which was used until the 70s or 80s or whatever.  My father can provide me with some info about it if anyone's interested, as he used to stay at the cabins as a kid.  The rec hall stands in ruins along the river on the property, and there are several small red cabins close by.

The address is 15c Old Kent Road, off of Howard Ave (come off the reservoir dam towards Tunk Hill Rd, stay straight and hook sharp, almost U-Turn left onto Howard, follow for a while, then hook left onto Old Kent).  The camp is directly across the street from the horse stables which are still in use.  There are also houses around the property still in use, including one littered with junk (Sanford and Son?) so just a word of caution to anyone who wants to check it out, find a secluded place to park and try to stay out of view.

Albums of pics of the camp (current state) on my facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48904&l=4a76beca2e&id=642113421
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51294&id=642113421&l=e817fce4ab
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58101&id=642113421&l=e49eea63f5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58103&id=642113421&l=2d3d4bd8e4


I attached 2 pics, one overview of the property and one labeled with most of the major landmarks.  If anyone here went to Sunrise or has any info, feel free to bring it up here!

[Hellion1027]

Also, some old links:

http://www.campsunrise.freeservers.com/riding.html
http://www.campsunrise.freeservers.com/themes.html
http://www.campsunrise.freeservers.com/index.html
http://www.campsunrise.freeservers.com/forms.html

Contact info is null and void, while on the property we called the number and no phones rang.  Power is still on in the main activity building, the cooking building next to the field and way out in the resident cabin but I have little reason to believe they are still in use due to the state of decay.

[Megster]

dude, I haven't seen you around here in YEARS. 

I hadn't heard of this place! Awesome pics too.

[Hellion1027]

Haha nice to see you too  I pop in every once in a while, I think the frustration of seeing every picture I sent of the Trolley Barn and Sockanossett as well as everyone else's pics disappear kept me out for a while. Any progress on bringing the site back?

And thanks, it's a cool place to check out. It's got a creepy Camp Crystal Lake type vibe to it now.

[insanebeaver]

NICE pictures. and yea that was a sad time in IB history we can only hope it never happens again and that the site will oneday be better then it once was :crosses fingers:

[gilbreth]

I grew up in Scituate RI, born in 1966 and left in 1984 for college.  I never heard of this camp, so interesting to read your post.  When I come back there from Thailand next year, I am going to make a point to find it.  We all attended Camp Westwood in Coventry (my sister hated it). 

Gil

So, anyone remember this place?  Sunrise Academy was a small private K-8 school in Scituate just southwest of the reservoir.  In the summer it became Camp Sunrise, a summer camp geared for ages 3-16 (if my memory serves me right) which operated from 1971-2004.  I went to camp here from 99-03, and after 2004 or 2005 it completely shut down for good.  A little over a year ago my brother and I went to check it out and reminisce, and damn it's creepy there.  The once loud and lively camp was now a vacant and silent wasteland.  Nothing was removed, every building and shed still stands, though rotting and overgrown.  The sheds at each activity area were left full (there's even a shed full of bikes at the BMX are) and there are objects littered about everywhere.  Last I heard the owner of both the school and camp had moved off the property with his wife due to health issues.  I know it hasn't completely been forgotten, as on the beach area (labeled in the pic) there is a lot of evidence of partying.

Also on the property are the Grant's Cabins, an abandoned vacation spot which was used until the 70s or 80s or whatever.  My father can provide me with some info about it if anyone's interested, as he used to stay at the cabins as a kid.  The rec hall stands in ruins along the river on the property, and there are several small red cabins close by.

The address is 15c Old Kent Road, off of Howard Ave (come off the reservoir dam towards Tunk Hill Rd, stay straight and hook sharp, almost U-Turn left onto Howard, follow for a while, then hook left onto Old Kent).  The camp is directly across the street from the horse stables which are still in use.  There are also houses around the property still in use, including one littered with junk (Sanford and Son?) so just a word of caution to anyone who wants to check it out, find a secluded place to park and try to stay out of view.

Albums of pics of the camp (current state) on my facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48904&l=4a76beca2e&id=642113421
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51294&id=642113421&l=e817fce4ab
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58101&id=642113421&l=e49eea63f5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58103&id=642113421&l=2d3d4bd8e4


I attached 2 pics, one overview of the property and one labeled with most of the major landmarks.  If anyone here went to Sunrise or has any info, feel free to bring it up here!

[Hellion1027]

Thanks beaver, and go for it Gil.  Me and my bro might take a trip down there today to see what's what, all those pics are from 2008 so we're gonna take some of the same shots for the hell of it to see how much it's decayed since then.

[Kurt]

so excited to find out about this, my cousin/bestfriend lives on Howard Ave. Totally going to check this place out soon, thank you!

[joshuamgold]

I went to Camp Sunrise in the early 80s, maybe late 70s. Not even sure anymore. Great memories. Would love to connect with others who went during this period.

[Hellion1027]

Hey DecayInRuins, you ever make it out there? I haven't checked it out in a while because I'm living out of state at the moment, interested to hear what you thought of it if you went.

[Kurt]

I haven't made it out yet, still on my list though haha

[Villain]

I'm planning on going soon.  Prob this weekend.  I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[Villain]

Haha dude I know you.

Hey DecayInRuins, you ever make it out there? I haven't checked it out in a while because I'm living out of state at the moment, interested to hear what you thought of it if you went.

[razorgod]

      a few pics from my trip yesterday.  ssshhhh.

[Hellion1027]

Haha dude I know you. I'm a little older than you though.  I was either a  JASM or SPL at troop 6 when you first came in.  Cool pictures though.   

Hey DecayInRuins, you ever make it out there? I haven't checked it out in a while because I'm living out of state at the moment, interested to hear what you thought of it if you went.

Whoa no way!  Just PM'd you.  And nice pics razor!  That bike shed is so tempting, though I'm sure some of those frames are pretty bent up.  It was always supposedly "rat infested" when I was going to camp here, possibly just a story to keep us damn kids out.

[fairground_way]

I grew up  on nearby Tunk Hill road and my best friend still lives there. I recently drove by Old Kent Rd/Camp Sunrise and there was a large sign with a smiley face that said "thank you" covering another sign outcrying against condos. I tried to find information on developing the land online, but couldn't find anything. I know Scituate has been put under pressure to create affordable housing and to do it on redeveloped property, but at the same time it could be the former owners trying to make a quick buck.

Grant's Cabins have always been creepy, even when I was young and we would beg our dad to drive us down there to see them (and to see what a real summer camp looked like, not the sad excuse that was Hope Pond)

[meowmorphosis]

This place looks great - I can't believe those bikes haven't been stolen!

[avenger314]

This takes me way back.  I went to Camp Sunrise for I think 8 consecutive summers.  I really miss that place!  I spent a lot of happy summers growing up there.  It's sad to see it abandoned, but I'm glad it at least still exists.  I hope to make visit back there in summer of 2012.  Seeing it both abandoned and covered in snow would probably be too depressing for me.
I knew it well; if I close my eyes I can picture pretty much the entire grounds.  I'd be able to draw a map of it, if my mapmaking skills weren't so poor.
I'm new to this site.  I don't know if you guys organize expeditions.  But if you do, keep me in mind--I'd be happy to see the place again and to help people get around the area.

Jim

[Hellion1027]

Hey all, relatively new listings have popped up.  Looks like the end of Sunrise is about to be here if it sells.  Only a cool $550,000 if anyone wants to buy it! 
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/15---A-C-Old-Hope-Kent-Rd_Scituate_RI_02831_M35089-77819#modal_PhotoGallery

[Hellion1027]

Hello ghosts and dust mites who may possibly still stop by this dope little relic of Web 1.0!

It's been a long time. Just wanted to give a little update, believe it or not I still get a fair amount of Facebook messages from former kids of Sunrise who found this thread on google. Some in regards to wanting to check it out.
So my brother came home to visit and we decided to drive over to the camp for the hell of it. It's still there! However the road in is now a gallery of NO TRESPASSING/PRIVATE PROPERTY signs. The neighborhood looks to be more active and those who were out made it pretty obvious that they were watching.

In the past there wasn't any obvious signage so at least you had plausible deniability if anyone bothered to give a shit that you were there. Chances are the place has been picked through and vandalized at this point, go at your own risk if you really want to and don't do anything stupid. It's really probably not worth the potential trouble, anything of interest has been photographed.

Cheers