Prescott (Submerged to form Quabbin Reservoir), Massachusetts represents a fascinating piece of Massachusetts’s cultural heritage. This abandoned settlement, with its quiet dignity and fading structures, offers visitors a chance to step back in time and contemplate the transient nature of human endeavors.
County: Hampshire
Zip Code: Not available
Latitude / Longitude: 42°23’30 N 72°20’41 W
Elevation: Not available
Time Zone: Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
Established: 1822
Disestablished: April 28, 1938
Comments: Historical accounts reveal that the Quabbin Valley is a region of Massachusetts in the United States. The region consists of areas drained by the Quabbin Reservoir and accompanying river systems in Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester counties. The area is sometimes known as the Swift River Valley region, a reference to the Swift River, which was dammed to form the reservoir.
Remains: The site now at its most restrictive, the Quabbin-Swift River Valley includes the towns immediately bordering the reservoir and lower length of the river. These towns include Belchertown, Hardwick, New Salem, Pelham, Petersham, Shutesbury, Palmer, and Ware.
Current Status: Present-day visitors will find the site is upon the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir, four additional towns in the valley were officially disincorporated, their area absorbed by surrounding municipalities. These towns are Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott.
Remarks: Prescott (Submerged to form Quabbin Reservoir) represents an important chapter in Massachusetts’s history, showcasing how economic shifts and changing transportation patterns could dramatically alter a community’s fortunes. Its legacy continues to fascinate historians and visitors alike.
Prescott, Massachusetts represents a significant chapter in the history of New England’s lost communities. Once a thriving rural town with a rich agricultural heritage, Prescott now lies beneath the waters of the Quabbin Reservoir, sacrificed along with three other towns to create a water supply for Boston and its surrounding communities. The story of Prescott illustrates the complex interplay between urban development, environmental management, and rural community life in early 20th century Massachusetts.
Origins and Early Development
Prescott was named in honor of Colonel William Prescott (1726-1795), the military leader who famously commanded American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War. The town was officially incorporated in 1822, carved out of territory that had previously been part of the towns of New Salem and Pelham.
Located in Hampshire County in the Swift River Valley of central Massachusetts, Prescott developed primarily as an agricultural community. The town’s landscape was characterized by rolling hills, fertile valleys, and numerous streams that provided water for farming and small-scale industrial operations.
By the mid-19th century, Prescott had established itself as a stable, if modest, rural community. The town featured a classic New England village center with a town common, churches, schools, and various small businesses serving the local population. The surrounding countryside was dotted with farms that formed the economic backbone of the community.
One of the notable areas within Prescott was Atkinson’s Hollow, a small settlement within the town that was photographed around 1910, preserving images of the rural architecture and daily life in this now-vanished community. These photographs show typical New England farmhouses and outbuildings, with residents posed in front of their homes, providing a valuable visual record of life in Prescott before its disappearance.
Community Life and Economy
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Prescott maintained its agricultural character while also supporting some light industry. Farming was the primary occupation for most residents, with fields of corn, hay, and other crops covering much of the arable land. Livestock raising, particularly dairy cattle, was also an important component of the local agricultural economy.
While agriculture dominated Prescott’s economy, the town also supported several mills and small manufacturing enterprises that utilized water power from local streams. These businesses produced textiles, wood products, and other goods for local consumption and regional trade.
Social life in Prescott centered around its churches, schools, and community organizations. The town maintained several district schools for elementary education, and older students typically attended high school in nearby larger communities. Churches served not only as religious centers but also as social hubs where community events and gatherings took place. Seasonal celebrations, agricultural fairs, and town meetings brought residents together and reinforced community bonds.
Prescott’s Congregational Church was a particularly significant institution in the town’s social and spiritual life. The church building, constructed in the classic New England style with a white clapboard exterior and prominent steeple, served as both a place of worship and a community gathering space. This church would later become one of the few structures from Prescott to be preserved when the town was disincorporated.
Decline and the Quabbin Reservoir Project
Like many rural New England communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Prescott experienced a gradual population decline as younger residents moved to cities in search of economic opportunities. From its peak population of over 750 residents in 1830, the town’s population had dwindled to approximately 18 by the time of its disincorporation in 1938.
The fate of Prescott began to change dramatically in the late 19th century as Boston and its surrounding communities faced increasing water shortages. The rapidly growing urban population, combined with the advent of indoor plumbing, created an urgent need for expanded water resources. After the completion of the Wachusett Reservoir in 1908, which had already displaced over 1,700 residents in parts of West Boylston, Boylston, Clinton, and Sterling, planners realized that even this substantial project would be insufficient to meet future water needs.
The Massachusetts Board of Health had identified the Swift River Valley as a potential reservoir site as early as 1895. After several years of planning and political debate, the Massachusetts legislature passed the Swift River Act in 1927, condemning the Swift River Valley and ordering the disincorporation of four towns: Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott. The legislation authorized the use of eminent domain to acquire the land needed for what would become the Quabbin Reservoir.
For the remaining residents of Prescott, the news was devastating. Many families had lived in the town for generations and faced the prospect of losing not only their homes and livelihoods but also their community identity and connections. The state offered compensation for properties, but many residents felt the payments were inadequate, with displaced residents receiving an average of $108 per acre for their land.
The process of displacement occurred gradually throughout the 1930s. Engineers and surveyors arrived first, followed by thousands of workers hired through various Depression-era work programs to clear the landscape. As residents departed, their homes and buildings were either relocated, dismantled, or prepared for demolition.
The Final Days
As the deadline for evacuation approached, the remaining residents of Prescott prepared for their final departure. On April 28, 1938, Prescott was officially disincorporated along with the other three towns in the Swift River Valley. The night before, on April 27, many residents from all four towns gathered at the Enfield Town Hall for a “farewell ball” sponsored by the Enfield fire department. The event featured bands, dancing, and theatrical performances, allowing residents one final community celebration before their towns legally ceased to exist.
After the residents departed, workers systematically dismantled the town. Most structures were either relocated, demolished, or burned. Trees and vegetation were cleared to the ground. The valley was reportedly “on fire for months” as workers burned buildings and cleared debris. Even the town’s cemeteries were affected, with graves exhumed and relocated to the newly established Quabbin Park Cemetery in Belchertown.
One notable exception to the wholesale destruction was Prescott’s Congregational Church. This historic structure was saved and transferred piece by piece to South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is now part of the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, under the care of Mount Holyoke College, preserving at least one significant building from the lost town.
By the time the Swift River was dammed in 1939 and the valley began to fill with water, little remained of Prescott and its neighboring towns. The reservoir took seven years to fill completely, from 1939 to 1946, gradually submerging the cleared landscape that had once been home to thriving communities.
Military Use During World War II
An interesting chapter in Prescott’s post-disincorporation history occurred during World War II. In 1941, the land that would become known as the Prescott Peninsula (a large peninsula extending into the Quabbin Reservoir) was temporarily repurposed as the Quabbin Reservoir Precision Bombing and Gunnery Range. The U.S. Army Air Forces used this area for training bomber crews, taking advantage of the newly cleared land and the absence of civilian populations.
This military use represented a brief but significant repurposing of the former town’s territory during a time of national emergency. After the war ended, the peninsula returned to its intended purpose as part of the protected watershed for the reservoir.
Legacy and Current Status
Today, Prescott lies largely beneath the waters of the Quabbin Reservoir, which serves as the primary water supply for Boston and 40 surrounding communities. The reservoir holds up to 412 billion gallons of water across 25,000 acres within a 120,000-acre protected watershed.
The former territory of Prescott is now part of the Prescott Peninsula, a large landmass that extends into the reservoir and is closed to the public to protect the water supply. This area is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation as part of the Quabbin Reservation and serves as a wildlife sanctuary.
The memory of Prescott is preserved through various historical collections and documentation efforts. The Swift River Valley Historical Society, founded in 1936 before the towns were disincorporated, maintains a museum in New Salem that houses artifacts, photographs, and records from Prescott and the other lost towns. The collection includes items such as furniture, household goods, business records, and personal memorabilia donated by former residents before their departure.
Historical photographs of Prescott, including images of Atkinson’s Hollow and other areas of the town, provide visual documentation of the community that was lost. These photographs, along with maps, diaries, letters, and other primary sources, help historians and descendants understand what life was like in Prescott before its disappearance.
The Prescott Congregational Church, now part of the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum in South Hadley, stands as a tangible reminder of the town. This preserved building offers visitors a direct connection to the architectural heritage of the lost community.
For the descendants of Prescott residents, there remains a sense of loss and disconnection. Unlike residents of most abandoned or declining towns, the families from Prescott cannot return to visit their ancestral homes or show their children and grandchildren where their families once lived.
Historical Significance
The story of Prescott and the other lost towns of the Quabbin represents a significant chapter in Massachusetts history. The creation of the reservoir was one of the largest public works projects in New England during the Great Depression, employing thousands of workers and fundamentally altering the geography and hydrology of central Massachusetts.
The displacement of Prescott’s residents highlights the human cost of infrastructure development and the often unequal distribution of that cost. While the reservoir has benefited millions of Massachusetts residents over the decades by providing clean drinking water, the sacrifice was borne primarily by the rural communities of the Swift River Valley, who received little direct benefit from the project.
Prescott also has connections to earlier periods of Massachusetts history. Some of its early residents were descendants of farmers who had participated in Shays’ Rebellion, the 1786-1787 uprising led by Daniel Shays against what farmers perceived as unfair tax and debt collection practices. This connection links Prescott to the broader currents of post-Revolutionary War social and economic tensions in rural New England.
The naming of the town after Colonel William Prescott connects it to the Revolutionary War and specifically to the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the early significant engagements of that conflict. This naming choice reflects the patriotic values and historical consciousness of the community’s founders.
Today, the story of Prescott and the Quabbin Reservoir continues to be told through books, articles, documentaries, and museum exhibits. These efforts ensure that despite its physical erasure from the landscape, Prescott remains part of Massachusetts’ historical memory—a community sacrificed for the greater good, but not forgotten.
Sources:
1. Vitabrevis American Ancestors. “Lost Towns of the Quabbin.” https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2019/09/lost-towns-of-the-quabbin
2. New England. “Lost Towns of the Quabbin Reservoir.” https://newengland.com/yankee/history/lost-towns-quabbin-reservoir/
3. NBC Boston. “The Dividing Scar: Massachusetts and The Four Lost Towns.” https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/the-dividing-scar-massachusetts-and-the-four-lost-towns/2702103/
4. Harvard Magazine. “Journey into Quabbin Reservoir’s Hidden Past.” https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2023/08/quabbin-reservoir-lost-towns-elena-palladino
5. Massachusetts State Library. “The Quabbin Reservoir and its Lost Towns.” http://mastatelibrary.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-quabbin-reservoir-and-its-lost-towns.html
6. Wikipedia. “Quabbin Reservoir.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quabbin_Reservoir