Quabbin Reservoir Filled to the Brim
On this day in 1946, water flowed over the spillway and officials declared Quabbin Reservoir full. Construction took more than 20 years and required the obliteration of four towns in the Swift River Valley. More than a thousand structures were dismantled — homes, barns, churches, schools, stores. Workers painstakingly removed 7,613 graves and re-interred the dead in a new cemetery. When it was completed, Quabbin was the largest man-made reservoir in the world. Today it is the principal source of drinking water for people in 46 metropolitan Boston communities. To ensure the quality of the water, the state has protected over 56,000 acres of surrounding land. The result is one of the largest and most diverse wilderness areas in Massachusetts.
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