The Winsor Dam and the Goodnough Dike impound the waters of the Swift and Ware Rivers, forming the Quabbin Reservoir, the largest water body in Massachusetts. The dam is one of the largest in New England.










Photographs taken with a bridge camera journaling nature and everyday life in Central Massachusetts and beyond.
Category: Water
The Winsor Dam and the Goodnough Dike impound the waters of the Swift and Ware Rivers, forming the Quabbin Reservoir, the largest water body in Massachusetts. The dam is one of the largest in New England.
“Quinnetuket” is the Native American word for Connecticut, and means “beside the long river”. The Connecticut River is the longest river in New England, flowing southward for 406 miles through four states. As it runs through Northfield, Massachusetts, the Riverview Picnic Area provides a wonderfully scenic place for a picnic in any season.
Quabbin Reservoir is one of the largest unfiltered water supplies in the United States. The 412 billion gallon reservoir covers 39 square miles with 181 miles of shoreline, providing 3 million people with drinking water. And yet, a visit to the reservoir offers so much more than water!
The Quabbin Reservoir takes its name from the Algonquin word meaning “many waters”.
“Quabbin Reservoir is one of the largest man-made public water supplies in the United States. Created in the 1930s by the construction of two huge earthen dams, the reservoir is fed by the three branches of the Swift River, and seasonally by the Ware River. Quabbin’s water covers 39 square miles, is 18 miles long and has 181 miles of shoreline. When full, Quabbin holds 412 billion gallons of water.
The New Salem and Enfield lookouts offer magnificent views of the reservoir. In order to flood the vast area of the Swift River Valley in the 1930s, the entire population of four towns had to be relocated. Hundreds of homes, businesses, a state highway, a railroad line, and 34 cemeteries were also moved or dismantled. Over 6,000 graves were relocated from the Valley to Quabbin Park Cemetery.”