You’ll find Massachusetts harbors several documented ghost towns, each with distinct historical circumstances behind their abandonment. Dogtown, established in the 1600s near Gloucester, deteriorated into vagrant territory after the War of 1812. The Swift River Valley’s four towns—Prescott, Dana, Enfield, and Greenwich—were deliberately disincorporated in 1938 and flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir, displacing over 7,500 bodies from their graves. Stone walls, cellar holes, and the Prescott Peninsula still mark where these communities once thrived before Massachusetts prioritized Boston’s water supply over rural settlement.
Table of Contents hide
12.1 Can You Visit the Cellar Holes and Ruins in Dogtown Today?…