Camp Chase History

The land where Camp Chase YMCA sits today was once farmland.  In the early part of the 19th century, the land was owned by Giles Griswold and became known as the “Old Griswold Farm.”  The land passed through a number of owners throughout the next century, and in 1954, the New Britain YMCA purchased the land from Albert and Carrie Brown, and founded Holiday Ridge Day Camp.  As the Day Camp program grew, the New Britain YMCA raised money to develop the land into a family center, and in 1964, Holiday Ridge had its first full season as a Family Swim Center.

From 1955 to 1984, Holiday Ridge was used as a Day Camp, Family Recreation Center, Spring and Fall picnic facility for a variety of groups, a Winter outing location for YMCA Indian Guides and other YMCA groups, a base camp for nearby ski slopes, and a spot for Spring vacation baseball training camp.

In 1984, the YMCA of Metropolitan Hartford purchased Holiday Ridge with the help of a capital campaign to which the Chase family were major contributors.  Thus, Holiday Ridge became Camp Chase Day Camp.

Since then, the Hartford YMCA has run YMCA Camp Chase as its own branch, and as an extension of existing branches.  Today, Camp Chase is an extension of the Farmington Valley branch of the Hartford YMCA.