Quabbin Information
Quabbin Park Visitor Center
Quabbin Administration Building
485 Ware Road
Belchertown , MA 01007
(413) 323-7221
Open weekdays 8:30AM-4:30PM, weekends 9:00AM-4:30PM
Exhibits, publications, programs, fishing and recreation information.
Swift River Valley Historical Society
Box 22, New Salem, MA 01355
(978) 544-6882
Museum of the old Quabbin Valley.
Visit the Swift River Valley Historical Valley website
Quabbin Bibliography
Quabbin Reservoir, by Walter E. Clark
Quabbin: The Accidental Wilderness, by Tom Conuel (1981)
By J.R. Greene
An Atlas of the Quabbin Valley and Ware River Diversion (1989)
Bibliography of the Quabbin Valley
The Creation of Quabbin Reservoir (1981)
The Day Four Quabbin Towns Died (1985)
Historic Quabbin Walks
The Massachusetts Central: Quabbin’s Phantom Railroad
Strange Tales of Old Quabbin
More Strange Tales From Old Quabbin (1999)
Henry W. Smith: Quabbin’s Controversial Spiritualist (1999)
Quabbin’s Railroad: The Rabbit, Vol 1, the Independent Years 1869-1880 (2002)
Quabbin’s Railroad: The Rabbit, Volume II, The Boston & Albany Years, 1880 – 1935 (2007)
Quabbin History Calendar (Annually since 1986) These calendars feature views from the Old Swift River valley villages and towns.
B.V. Brooks’ Pre-Quabbin Art, Photos & Postcards (2014)
J. R. Greene may be contacted at 26 Bearsden Rd., Athol, Massachusetts, 01331-3402. e-mail: jrg01331@webtv.net
Quabbin: The Lost Valley, Compiled by Donald Howe (1951)
Letters From Quabbin 1938, by Mabel Jones and Amy Spink (available for purchase at Quabbin Visitors Center)
History of New Salem Academy by Eugene Bullard
The Prescott Years, by Raymond W. Whitaker
Friends of Quabbin: Archived Quabbin Voices Newsletters
Archived Quabbin Voices – those not available on the Friends of Quabbin website
Letting Swift River Go, by Jane Yolen Illustrated by Barbara Cooney (for children) Visit Jane Yolen’s website
Example of Teaching Resources for Letting Swift River Go (1995) by Jane Yolen
Literary Guide Letting Swift River Go (Hilltown Families)
Teacher’s Resources of Classroom Background Material on Swift River Valley Courtesy of Mrs. Claudia Nash of Oxford Middle School
Quabbin: A History and Explorers Guide by Michael Tougias
Visit Michael Tougias’s website
Someday by Jackie French Koller (2002)
Visit Jackie French Koller’s website
Cascade by Maryanne O’Hara (2012) Visit Maryanne O’Hara’s book Cascade website and watch the book trailer video and the 2nd video of Quabbin People
Friends of Quabbin Resources
Interactive Guide Tour of Quabbin Park Cemetery
Enfield Civil War Soldier Bronze Sculpture and Plaques
Find A Grave – Search within Quabbin Park Cemetery
Quabbin Park Cemetery Inventory Collection (PDF Fillable)
DCR’s Notice of Intent to Clean Stonework Form (PDF Fillable)
DCR’S Quabbin Park Cemetery Management Plan (Rules and Operations Manual)
DCR Quabbin Park Cemetery Restoration Project Final Report – June 2012
Bob Drinkwater’s Presentation Gravestones and Stonecutters in the Quabbin Region, c. 1740-1840
Information on Friends of Quabbin Book Donation Program
Enfield Bicentennial Souvenir Program (print on both sides, flip on short edge)
Westfield Wheelmen Vintage Base Ball & 1886 Rules
Digital Commonwealth
Links to Resources Published at Libraries/Archives/Colleges – Records of Town Reports, Maps, History, etc.
Home Page – State Library of Massachusetts The State Library was established in 1826 to collect, deposit, and house the Commonwealth’s collections of maps, statute books, and government documents in a single central location. Since that time, the State Library has grown into a multifaceted and reliable resource for legislators, executive personnel, state employees, historians, genealogists, and users from all over the world.
University of Massachusetts Special Collections Dana, Massachusetts (includes town reports).
University of Massachusetts Special Collections Enfield, Massachusetts (includes town reports).
University of Massachusetts Special Collections Greenwich, Massachusetts (includes town reports).
University of Massachusetts Special Collections Prescott, Massachusetts (includes town reports).
Dana Vital Records to 1850 Digital copy of the Dana Vital Records to 1850 (Internet Archive by UMass Library)
The history of Prescott, Massachusetts; one of four townships in the Swift River Valley which was “born, lived and died” to make way for Metropolitan Water Basin ([n.d.]) Coolidge, Lillie Pierce
Gazetteer of Hampshire County, Mass., 1654-1887 (1886) Compiled & edited by W. B. Gay, published by W. B. Gay & Co., Syracuse, NY.
Quabbin; the story of a small town with outlooks upon Puritan life (1893) Underwood, Francis Henry, 1825-1894.
History of Pelham, Mass. from 1738 to 1898 Including the early history of Prescott (1898) by C.O. Parmenter.
Shays’ Rebellion & the Making of a Nation Very Comprehensive and well done by Springfield Technical Community College
The Dana Centennial Report of the addresses and proceedings at the celebration on Dana Common on the twenty-second day of August, Nineteen Hundred One
Photographs of Enfield’s last days (April 1938) Arthur Griffin was a photographer for the Boston Globe Rotogravure Magazine and the New England photojournalist for Life and Time magazines.
Burt V. Brooks Photograph Collection, 1889-1934 (Greenwich, Massachusetts) University of Massachusetts Special Collections & University Archives
Oral History & Videos
Visit the Friends of Quabbin YouTube Channel A Selection of Videos Made for the 75th Remembrance Ball (April 27, 2013) and others
Under Quabbin WGBY Channel 57, Springfield PBS Production of Under Quabbin
Haunting the Quabbin Interviews by WBUR, Boston’s NPR Station (2005)
Quabbin and the Swift River Valley Historical Society A video on the Quabbin and Swift River Valley Historical Society (Grafton Community TV, July 13, 2012)
Robert Wilder of Brookfield, Massachusetts Robert Wilder Maps, Videos and other resources.
Tribute to Ruth Jazab A Tribute to long-time Friends of Quabbin Director and of her heritage to Greenwich.
Government Agencies – Massachusetts
Executive Office of Environmental Affairs is the state agency primarily responsible for protecting and conserving natural resources in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection administers the Commonwealth’s environmental regulatory programs for the protection of water, air, and land resources.
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is the state agency charged with stewardship of all wild amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and freshwater and diadromous fishes in the state, as well as endangered, threatened and special concern species, including native wild plants and invertebrates.
Division of Wetlands and Waterways Program is responsible for the protection of inland and coastal wetlands, tidelands, great ponds, rivers and floodplains. Administers and enforces the Wetlands Protection Act (Chapter 131 s 40); the Public Waterfront Act (Chapter 91), the Inland and Coastal Wetlands Restrictions Acts; and the 401 Water Quality Certification Program.
The Massachusetts Historical Commission is the state resources.historic preservation office authorized to identify, evaluate, and protect the Commonwealth’s important historic and archaeological resources.
The Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program is responsible for the conservation and protection of thousands of species of wildlife and wild plants that are not hunted, fished, trapped or commercially harvested in the state, including those listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern.
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority responsible for the sewer and
waterworks system of the MDC. It is also the agency primarily responsible for the Boston Harbor cleanup.
Department of Conservation and Recreation The Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Water Supply Protection, Watershed Management section (formerly the MDC Division of Watershed Management) manages and protects the drinking water supply watersheds for nearly 2.2 million residents of Massachusetts, primarily in Greater Boston. The source waters of this watershed system, which provides water to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) for distribution, are the Quabbin Reservoir, Ware River, and Wachusett Reservoir and their contributing watersheds. The Division also manages and protects the Sudbury Reservoir system, which is Greater Boston’s reserve drinking water supply.
Environmental Organizations
Conservation Law Foundation of New England is a regional environmental advocacy organization working on the most significant threats to the natural environment of New England and to the health of its residents.
Earth Share of New England (formerly the Environmental Federation of New England) is a coalition of organizations working to protect and preserve natural resources and public health in New England.
Harvard Forest Harvard Forest serves as a base for research and education in forest biology, focusing on silviculture and forest management, soils and the development of forest site concepts, the biology of temperate and tropical trees, forest ecology and economics and ecosystem dynamics.
The Massachusetts Audubon Society is the largest conservation organization in New England working to preserve the natural world through conservation, education and environmental advocacy.
Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions MACC is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the Commonwealth. Our mission today continues to be education of and support for Conservation Commissions
The Massachusetts Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology is dedicated to promoting the scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biological diversity.
Massachusetts Clean Water Action is a citizens’ organization working for clean, safe and affordable water, prevention of health-threatening pollution, creation of environmentally-safe jobs, and business, and empowerment of people to make democracy work.
Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition is an informal association of land trusts and conservation organizations in Massachusetts, working to increase their effectiveness with the legislature and government agencies.
MassPIRG MassPIRG (Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to serving as a watchdog for the state’s citizens and environment.
Metacomet Land Trust is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the protection of open space and natural resources in the communities of South Central Massachusetts.
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust protects significant natural, agricultural, and scenic areas and encourages land stewardship in North Central and Western Massachusetts for the benefit of the environment, the economy and future generations.
The New England Botanical Club is a nonprofit organization that promotes the study of plants of North America, especially the flora of New England and adjacent areas.
The New England Wild Flower Society is the oldest plant conservation organization in the United States, promoting the conservation of temperate North American plants through key programs.
Sierra Club, Massachusetts Chapter is a nonprofit member-supported, public interest organization that promotes conservation of the natural environment by influencing public policy decisions.
Trustees of Reservations the nation’s oldest private, statewide conservation and preservation organization. Since 1891, they have protected over 34,000 acres of
land in Massachusetts, including 89 public reservations representing many of the state’s most scenic, ecologically rich, and historically important landscapes.
Valley Land Fund is a regional land trust serving Hampden, Hampshire,and Franklin Counties, working cooperatively with smaller and larger conservation organizations, towns, neighborhood groups, and state agencies to protect the special places of the Connecticut River Valley. and surrounding hills.
Bird Watching
Massbird.org is an online resource for birding in Massachusetts.
The Hampshire Bird Club, Inc. was organized in 1984. The purpose of HBC is to help members and the general public enjoy birding and to educate them about birds, bird watching, and bird habitats.
Photography
Les Campbell ‘s Sky Meadow Photo Gallery This website is about a widely-known and highly acclaimed photographer who lives on a homestead called Sky Meadow. There, he has a gallery of his work as well as by his assistant Elaine Darr-Morton.
North Quabbin Photography A selection of photographs by Dale Monette, a long-time Interpretive Services Specialist who retired from the Quabbin Visitors Center in 2013.
Artisans Works
Sue Chaffe’s Art – Lost Treasures of Quabbin Paintings of the Lost Valley
Russ Buzzell’s Paintings Paintings by Russ Buzzell who provided many illustrations and paintings for use by the Friends of Quabbin in the Quabbin Voices Newsletter