Centennial Camporee

1660–1667 — Settlement & Founding

The area was first settled around 1660 by unofficial colonists. In September 1662, a deed was signed with Nipmuc leaders known as "Great John" and Quashaamit, purchasing the land — originally called Squinshepauke Plantation — for twenty-four pounds sterling. On May 15, 1667, Mendon was officially incorporated, becoming the second-oldest town in what is now Worcester County.

The land's original inhabitants were the Nipmuc people, whose name means "people of the fresh waters." Two Praying Indian villages established in Mendon's territory during this period reflect the complex relationship between colonists and Native communities in early New England.

1675–1680 — King Philip's War

On July 14, 1675, Mendon became the site of the first settler casualties of King Philip's War in the Massachusetts Colony, when violence reached the town and Benjamin Albee's grist mill — the first water-powered mill in the region, built in 1664 — was destroyed. By early 1676, Mendon had been largely burned to the ground.

The town was resettled and rebuilt beginning in 1680, and it would grow steadily in the years that followed. Among those who settled here after the war was Robert Taft Sr., an ancestor of the prominent Taft political family.

"Mother Mendon"

The original Mendon grant encompassed approximately 64 square miles. Over time, the town was subdivided into at least eight separate municipalities: Milford, Bellingham, Hopedale, Uxbridge, Upton, Blackstone, Northbridge, and Millville. Because of this, Mendon is traditionally called "Mother Mendon."

Bellingham became the first community to separate in 1719; Uxbridge followed in 1727. Despite losing much of its original territory, Mendon retained its distinct agricultural character — rolling hills, stone walls, weathered farm buildings — that distinguishes it from the neighboring industrial towns that grew around it.

1773 — The Mendon Resolves

One of Mendon's most significant contributions to American history came three years before the Declaration of Independence. A letter from Boston's Committee of Correspondence was read at a Mendon town meeting on February 10, 1773, prompting a committee of six ardent Sons of Liberty — Joseph Dorr, Edward Rawson, James Sumner, John Tyler, William Torrey, and Joseph Johnson — to draft a formal response.

On March 1, 1773, Joseph Dorr presented nineteen resolves at a town meeting:

“All men have naturally a right to life, liberty, and property, and … a just and lawful government must originate with the free consent of the people.”

The document also held that quartering an army in peacetime without the people's consent was a violation of the rights of free men.

Three years later, many of the Mendon Resolves' phrases reappeared in Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. Boston's Sons of Liberty took particular note of the document's eloquence. A reenactment of the Mendon Resolves is one of the featured historical demonstrations at the 2026 Centennial Camporee.

Lydia Chapin Taft: America's First Woman Voter

Lydia Chapin Taft (February 2, 1712 – November 9, 1778) was born in Mendon and is recognized as the first woman known to legally vote in colonial America. On October 30, 1756, in Uxbridge (a town that had separated from Mendon in 1727), she was permitted to vote at a town meeting in place of her late husband Josiah Taft — whose estate was the town's largest taxpayer — on whether to support the French and Indian War effort.

Under the principle of "no taxation without representation," her vote broke a tie — nearly two centuries before women's suffrage was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Since 2004, the Massachusetts legislature has named Route 146A from Uxbridge to the Rhode Island border in her honor.

Historical Landmarks

• 1669
  Old Cemetery established — contains the graves of 40 Revolutionary War soldiers
• 1722
  Milestone marker erected marking "37 miles from Boston" — now in Founders' Park
• 1745
  Ammidon Tavern built
• 1769
  Mendon Meetinghouse built, serving as worship space, town meeting hall, and community center
• 1825
  Bank building constructed, now the Mendon Historical Museum
• Nov 6, 1970
  Rock band Aerosmith performed their first-ever concert at Miscoe Hill School (then Nipmuc Regional High School) in Mendon — locals remember the night & 55 years later
• 1986
  Mendon included in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor

Scouting's Golden Decade: The 1920s

By the mid-1920s, Scouting had become woven into the fabric of American community life. National membership surpassed 1 million registered Scouts for the first time in 1925. Communities across the country were chartering new troops, and the program's emphasis on outdoor skills, citizenship, and character resonated powerfully in post-World War I America.

• 1920
  First World Scout Jamboree, London; BSA membership 478,528
• 1924
  45,000 Lone Scouts merge into BSA; membership reaches 696,620
• 1925
  BSA membership exceeds 1 million for the first time; Junior Assistant Scoutmaster position created
• 1926
  First Silver Buffalo Awards presented; twenty-two awarded, beginning with Robert Baden-Powell himself and the Unknown Scout
• 1927
  First major revision of the Handbook for Boys published

Troop 1 Mendon: Chartered 1926

Against this backdrop of national Scouting growth, Troop 1 of Mendon, Massachusetts was chartered in 1926 — joining a movement that was at its first great peak. The troop was one of thousands of new units formed during the decade as Scouting expanded into smaller towns and rural communities across New England and the rest of the country.

Nearly a century later, Troop 1 Mendon remains active and connected to its community — the same values of outdoor readiness, citizenship, and leadership that defined Scouting in 1926 continue to guide the troop today. The 1926 Committee — the organizing body of this Centennial Camporee — takes its name from that founding year.

It is a fitting pairing: the town that put "life, liberty, and property" on paper in 1773 has now spent a century teaching citizenship and leadership to its young people. Troop 1's story is Mendon's story — and the next chapter is written October 9–12, 2026, at Inman Hill.

Roger L. Wood & American Legion Legacy

Troop 1 Mendon history is also tied to the local American Legion tradition and the memory of Roger L. Wood. Across generations, Legion values of service, citizenship, and duty to community have closely aligned with the troop's mission of youth leadership and character development.

That connection remains part of Troop 1 lore today — honoring veterans, civic responsibility, and hometown service as core elements of Mendon Scouting's identity. The Centennial Camporee recognizes this American Legion influence as part of the troop's 100-year story.

Scouting Since 1926: A Century of Milestones

• 1930
  Cub Scouts officially launched for younger boys
• 1935
  BSA celebrates its 25th anniversary with more than 1 million active members
• 1937
  First National Scout Jamboree, Washington Monument — 27,232 Scouts and leaders attended
• 1941
  Webelos rank introduced in Cub Scouting; the Webelos den followed in 1954 as the bridge from Cub Scouts to the troop
• 1969
  Neil Armstrong, Eagle Scout, becomes the first person to walk on the moon
• 2017–2019
  Scouting welcomes girls: Cub Scouts opens to girls in 2018, and the renamed Scouts BSA program follows in 2019
• 2022
  Troop 1 Mendon's 100th Eagle Scout — Brian Dubowik
• 2026
  Troop 1 Mendon celebrates its 100th anniversary at the Centennial Camporee at Inman Hill