In the late 1930s, Massachusetts flooded four little towns — Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott — to make a reservoir so that Boston metro could have even more drinking water. The resultant Quabbin Reservoir, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the world, now contains both natural, wild beauty and the rather ghostly remains of the 2,500 lives it displaced. Old foundations and overgrown roads still appear above the water line, and, apparently, if you look down into the water, you can see old houses!!
It’s an incredibly eldritch and fascinating place, from what I’ve heard. I’d love to go there. I bet vampires hang out there… The public radio documentary Haunting the Quabbin gives a detailed, personal view of the creation of the reservoir, as viewed by former residents of the displaced towns and others involved in the project.
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Hampshire College named it’s three housing areas after those towns Enfield, Greenwhich and Prescott. Dana didn’t get any posthumous love.
I swear I heard about a similar reservoir in the Western NY state area when I was growing up, about being able to go boating and see the roofs and whatnot through the water. It fascinated me for a while, but now, I can’t remember where it was. Abandoned things always interest me, though, like the old amusement park, Idora Park, in Youngstown, OH, all the old, empty buildings in downtown Youngstown, and some of the old steel mill buildings.