Water Worn

During the 1920's it became apparent that Eastern Massachusetts did not have a large enough water supply to satisfy its growing needs. Thirsty Eastern Massachusetts inhabitants looked westward at the pristeen Swift River 100 miles away from Boston. This river flowed through a beautiful series of small towns nestled in the Swift River valley. Through a series of "buyouts" the inhabitants of these towns were tossed out of their homes in preparation for construction of a reservoir.
Houses were bulldozed, bodies dug up (except for Native Americans), factories demolished and millions acres of trees were cut down. Four towns Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott were wiped off the face of the Earth and seven other towns were affected. A half mile long dam was built on the Swift River in Belchertown MA and one of the longest tunnels in the world was constructed to carry the water a hundred miles to the east. Flooding of the valley started in mid August 1939.The valley slowly filled with water and in 1946 the reservior was filled to capacity ( 412 billion gallons) and nearly 40 square miles were covered with water. The new reservoir was named after a Native American chief of a local tribe. The chief's name was Nani-Quaben. The name, which was given to a hill in Enfield and a lake in Greenwich means " well watered place."
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