Quabbin Towns

In 1895, the General Court of Massachusetts established a Metropolitan Water District to provide ample water supplies for the growing metropolis of Boston by constructing two large reservoirs, the first along the Nashua River northeast of Worcester (the Wachusett Reservoir) and the second along the Swift River Valley.

Met with local resistance from the outset, the damming of the Swift River Valley required the disincorporation of four towns, Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott, and the alienation of land in several others. The greatest impact of the Quabbin Reservoir was borne by the residents of these relatively small, isolated, and predominantly rural towns, all of whom were forced to relocate. Construction of the Quabbin Reservoir began in 1926 and was completed ten years later, with formal dissolution of the towns following in 1938.

The annual reports of the four towns of the Quabbin region provide important documentation of the lives of the residents of the former towns Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott. Issued under various titles and with somewhat variable content, the annual reports include more or less detailed information of the activities of town officials and offices, including the Selectmen, Overseers of the Poor, the School Committee, and Town Library. In most years, the reports also document town expenditures and include a list of the residents with a valuation of property and taxes paid.

Published annual Reports for the Quabbin towns did not appear until 1857, when Enfield, the largest town, printed its first, followed by Prescott (1862), Dana (1869), and Greenwich (1873). Titles varied, sometimes dramatically, depending on which committees were reporting, and some committees occasionally issued separate reports (e.g., the School Committee for Enfield). While extensive, the SCUA collection is not complete and is much sparser in the early years of issuance of town reports.