About This Location
The Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge WW2 Bunkers are fascinating abandoned structures located in Sudbury, Massachusetts.
With the onset of World War II, the United States Government sought out land in Middlesex County where they could build bunkers to store live ammunition. The government set its sights on 2,450 acres of land in the towns of Maynard, Stow, Hudson, and Sudbury. It acquired the land by eminent domain in the early 1940s, forcing over 100 landowners to sell their property and move off the land. Roads were closed and the land was sealed off with a razor wire and security patrols.
After acquiring the land, the United States Army began creating the Maynard Ammunition Backup Storage Point. At this storage point, 50 ammunition storage bunkers were created and railway tracks were added to connect the bunkers to the Massachusetts Central Railroad. This was one of several depots that connected munitions factories in the midwest, which were safe from attack, with coastal arsenals in Boston, Hingham, and Cohasset.
After the war, the area was an annex for Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, and a test station for military research. The land was transferred from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2000. The Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge opened to the public for the first time in 63 years on October 23, 2005.
Today, visitors are welcome to check out the dozens of abandoned WW2 bunkers at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. There are a number of different trails in the refuge which lead visitors right to the different bunkers.