It was originally used either as a training home for underprivileged, wayward, and orphaned boys or as a youth detention center.
Although the farm was being used to house orphans, criminals under the age of 21 were sent there to serve time for charges such as robbery, assault, or theft.
Like other buildings in the village, the houses were built from local materials such as red bricks and fieldstone quarried from the rock falls of the Piedmont mountain cliffs right behind Shawbridge.
[3] Shawbridge Boys' Farm is now called Shawbridge Youth Centres, and is owned and operated by Batshaw Youth and Family Services, a government service meant to help families in difficulty.
Although it is mostly used as a chain of group homes that are isolated from the community, it is also used as a youth detention center.