This guide introduces the unrivalled natural beauty of Quabbin Reservoir's 'accidental' wilderness where eagles now soar, and tells the sad story of its creation. We visit magnificent 18th century towns largely frozen in time. In addition to the awesome aquatic views you will enjoy spacious commons ringed with historic structures, real country stores, endless nature walks, great birding and fishing and best of all, history at every turn. Must-See Attractions: Swift River Valley Historical Society; Historic Center of New Salem; Lake Wyola; Pelham Town Hall -- Daniel Shays Monument; Stone House Museum in Belchertown; Quabbin Park; Ware Congregational Meeting House; Aspen Grove Cemetery; Gilbertville Covered Bridge; Hardwick Common; Hikes into Quabbin from Gates 30 and 40; Town of Petersham; Fisher Museum of Forestry; Bald Eagle Viewing; Fall Foliage.
Conuel skillfully provides an overview of the region, a discussion of its people, the reasons for the construction of the reservoir, and the impact of the project on human settlements and natural resources. -- Historical Journal of Massachusetts
This is the definitive history and contemporary explorer's guide to the Quabbin Reservoir. Located in Central Massachusetts, the reservoir is an amazing wilderness with an equally amazing history. The Quabbin has 118 miles of undeveloped shoreline, with surrounding reservation spanning some 81,000 acres of protected open space. The great city of Boston gets all its water from the Quabbin/Ware River/Wachusett watersheds, as do 45 other communities in Massachusetts. This book explores topics such as building the Quabbin and how it works; hiking, wildlife viewing, biking, and fishing; visiting the region's best waterfalls; Quabbin rules and regulations; as well as information on accommodations, restaurants, camping, orchards, swimming, golf, general stores, crafts, antiques, history, and more.
In the tradition of Silent Spring, a modern parable of the American experience and our paradoxical relationship with the natural world. Though it seems a part of the "natural" landscape of New England today, the Swift River Valley reservoir, dam, dike, and nature area was a triumph of civil engineering. It combined forward-looking environmental stewardship and social policy, yet the “little people”—and the four towns in which they lived—got lost along the way. Elisabeth Rosenberg has crafted Before the Flood to be both a modern and a universal story in a time when managed retreat will one day be a reality. Meticulously researched, Before the Flood, is the first narrative book on the incredible history of the Swift River Valley and the origins Quabbin Reservoir. Rosenberg dive into the socioeconomic and psychological aspects of the Swift River Valley’s destruction in order to supply drinking water for the growing populations of Boston and wider Massachusetts. It is as much a human story as the story of water and landscape, and Before the Flood movingly reveals both the stories and the science of the key players and the four flooded towns that were washed forever away.
Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, Prescott-- four towns are dismantled slowly while their inhabitants grieve for a history and heritage that has been voted away from them. A family saga based on an actual event which displaced four entire towns in central Massachusetts for the construction of a reservoir to supply water for Boston, where families are divided between those who protest the construction project, those who give up and leave, and those who help to build it.
Stunning landscape and wildlife photography from a dedicated naturalist and chronicler of Canadian and New England wild places, including Quabbin, the central Massachusetts nature preserve created when four towns were flooded in the 1930s to create the water supply for Greater Boston.
"I bought this travel guide out of curiosity when I went back home to visit my parents. I grew up in N.H., went to school at UCONN, and spent a lot of time in Massachusetts - so I am familiar with the area. Sometimes, when you live in a place, however, you take your home for granted and don't see the sights in your back yard. Traveling 1500 miles back home, however, I felt like I needed to get my moneys worth (the sure sign of a native east coaster). This book led me to some incredible old towns and restaurants and shops that I had missed while living there.I highly recommend the book. It was great to have it on my laptop because after work, I was able plan the remainder of my day in a snap." -- Amazon reviewer. "I've been toting Elizabeth L. Dugger's new Adventure Guide to Massachusetts & Western Connecticut around for about a month now, ever since I received it. I had all the best intentions of being the first reviewer to publish my commentary on the travel guide, but with one project after another eating up my hours, I'm not sure that I can claim that honor. I have, however, really bulked up my biceps by lugging the Adventure Guide around! In a word, the book is "massive," and before I ever lifted the cover, I was perplexed as to how Dugger could possibly have found enough bungee jumping-, cliff diving-, and vine swinging-type adventures in the stately and somewhat subdued states of Massachusetts and Connecticut to fill 496 pages! When I opened to page 113 to find a section on "Antique Shopping on Cape Cod," I was surprised and delighted to realize that the range of adventures Dugger suggests includes those that pose great danger only to my credit card balance. In the book's introduction, Dugger explains that adventure travel "doesn't have to mean hanging from a cliff by your fingernails. " Her enormous catalog of exciting escapes includes family-friendly ideas, outdoor fun for people of all ages and abilities, out-of-the-ordinary sightseeing suggestions, and, of course, the full complement of hiking, biking, fishing, boating, and other recreational opportunities in central New England. "Adventure travel makes you feel alive, wakes you up to yourself as well as to your surroundings," Dugger explains. "Just being in open lands or along the coast, most of the time, can give you that get-away feeling. ...Adventure travel gets the blood flowing, the heart pumping." Also the author of the Adventure Guide to New Hampshire and the Adventure Guide to Vermont, Dugger quickly debunks the notion that Massachusetts is a tamer, less challenging playground than its mountainous northern neighbors. After a brief introductory section that includes a short history of Massachusetts, a map of and information on getting to the region, road rules, and safety information on such important topics as "avoiding bears," the book is broken up into six regional chapters: the Seacoast Region, Boston and Nearby Adventures, Central Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley, the Berkshires, and the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut. Within each geographic section, adventures are organized in category groupings: On Foot, On Horseback, On Wheels, On Water, On Snow & Ice, and In the Air. Each chapter has information on Eco-Travel and where to Stay & Eat, as well.While the emphasis of this guide is decidedly on the outdoors and on planning a Massachusetts vacation that takes you to the lesser known attractions that the state offers, it is actually one of the most comprehensive and delightful guides to the region available. While many travel guides contain the obligatory paragraph on each historic attraction and sightseeing venue, the Adventure Guide to Massachusetts & Western Connecticut artfully leads the traveler to those awe-inspiring, stimulating, and unique excursions that are likely to make for a most memorable trip. Detailed maps, black and white photos, cute graphics, and sidebars on special events, kid-friendly and accessible spots, recommended reading, and mor
Struggling to preserve her family's theater and married to a man desperate for children, would-be artist Desdemona Hart of 1935 Massachusetts is drawn to creative newcomer Jacob Solomon, who is wrongly implicated by anti-Semitic townspeople after a murder.
