Welcome to Craigville!
We are happy to share information on the history and life of the village and its many organizations:
Each group plays a vital role in our life together and is overseen by volunteers, most of whom live in Craigville for at least part of the year.
The Christian Camp Meeting Association (CCMA) owns the public lands and buildings in the village, including the Tabernacle, beach, retreat center (including the Inn, Manor and Lodge, several cottages alongside the Inn, the Green, the ballfield on the Bluff, tennis courts, parking lots and roads.) CCMA contracts with United Camps, Conferences and Retreats (UCCR), a California-based nonprofit, to manage the retreat center.
Craigville was founded in 1872 as the camp meeting of the New England Convention of Christian Churches. This small religious body later united with the Congregational Churches to form the Congregational Christian Churches, now part of the United Church of Christ. The “Christian Connection” founders were notably progressive for their time and ecumenically minded from the beginning.
United Camps, Conferences and Retreats operates Craigville Retreat Center year-round for religious, educational, and other nonprofit groups who come to Craigville for spiritual retreats, campus ministry, leadership development and other activities. In a normal year CRC welcomes over eight thousand guests.
Craigville relies on volunteers for almost everything that happens here - from overseeing our roads and parks, to activities in the Tabernacle, to planning for summer social activities. View Craigville Committees
The Red Lily Pond Project Association is a conservation corporation made up of village residents and friends who have worked for more than 30 years to save Lake Elizabeth and Red Lily Pond through restoration efforts to address nutrient overload. We have been quite successful in the endeavor, but only constant vigilance can ensure the health of the ponds. We urge residents and visitors alike to treat our fragile ecosystem with the utmost kindness and respect.
The CCMA has adopted a goal of achieving Net Zero carbon consumption by 2050.
The community fosters a friendly, family environment where you can relax and enjoy the beach and the ocean, including water and land sports, quiet meditation, and joyous song, as well as good neighbors and friends.
We hope that you enjoy our “unique place of grace by the sea”!
Photo Sources: Most of the photographs on craigville.org are from the CCMA archive now housed at Sturgis Library in Barnstable. These include collections from the Buffington, Tillinghast, Chase and Giffin families assembled over the years by James Buffington and Jim Lane and digitized by Skye Fackre Gibson. Thank you for helping to preserve Craigville’s history!
Thank you to Marc Jacobson Photography for sharing some of his beautiful photography!
Marc Jacobson bio:
I have enjoyed photography as a hobby for many years. For me it all started in my early teen years when I got a very cool shot of my dad's sports car racing toward the finish line at a race track in Connecticut that ultimately got published. As a kid, I thought that was pretty cool. Ever since, I have considered photography a hobby.
Fast forward several years, and now I live on Cape Cod with my wife, and we own the Long Dell Inn (Bed & Breakfast) right here in Centerville.
If you would like to check out more of my images, please like/follow me on Instagram and or Facebook, or check out my website.
As a photographer. I feel there is no greater joy than when one of my images elicits an emotional response from the viewer. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to provide some imagery to help Craigville celebrate their 150th anniversary.
Instagram: capecodphotog_marcjacobson
Facebook: Marc Jacobson Photography
Website: marcjacobsonphotography.zenfolio.com
E-mail: mjacobsonphotography@gmail.com
Thank you to Denise Maccaferri for capturing our Big Sunday events!
Website: www.denisemaccaferriphotography.com/
Visit Us
39 Prospect Avenue
Centerville, MA 02632