State atlas · filed under MA

Ghost Towns of Massachusetts

Massachusetts drowned four towns at once for the Quabbin Reservoir — the state's signature abandonment — alongside emptied mill villages and the hill settlements colonial farmers gave up for better land west.

613 sites surveyed across Massachusetts — 2 charted with full records so far, entered by year of settlement. The rest are awaiting verification.

✕Charted — click for the recordSurveyed — records pending

Survey note

The federal place-name archive records 613 vanished or historical sites in Massachusetts — ghost towns, mining camps, townsites, and railroad stops. We chart them a few at a time, as the records can be verified. Every mark on this map is a place that once had a name.

TownYearsLast pop.Classification

DogtownEssex Co.1693–18300Vanished Place DanaWorcester Co.1801–19380Vanished Place

Society Pro

See Massachusetts as the surveyors drew it, 1879 to 1919

649 USGS survey sheets from those years cover Massachusetts. Pro lays them over today's map with a swipe between then and now, and adds every mine feature, lost place and mineral site the federal record holds for the state.

2,133mine features

1,124mineral sites

576lost places

649survey sheets

The full survey ledger

Every vanished town the federal archive records in Massachusetts — each with its own record page, verified and expanded over time.

Acushnet StationBristol Co.AdamsvilleNorfolk Co.AqawamEssex Co.Beaver BrookEssex Co.Belchers CornerNorfolk Co.Camp Mar VelBarnstable Co.Centre VillageMiddlesex Co.Community ParkWorcester Co.DanaWorcester Co.Duck HarborWorcester Co.EnfieldHampshire Co.Factory VillageFranklin Co.Fort WinthropSuffolk Co.FullervilleWorcester Co.Further CreekNantucket Co.GreenwichWorcester Co.Greenwich VillageWorcester Co.Head of PlainsNantucket Co.Hemlock BrookBerkshire Co.JamesvilleWorcester Co.Le Count HollowBarnstable Co.MaddequetNantucket Co.Merino VillageWorcester Co.Middle PastureNantucket Co.MillingtonFranklin Co.Narrow CreekNantucket Co.New TownMiddlesex Co.New WorcesterWorcester Co.North DanaWorcester Co.North PastureNantucket Co.NorthvilleWorcester Co.Norton FurnaceBristol Co.PatuxetPlymouth Co.PaucatuckHampden Co.PlainfieldNantucket Co.PlainvilleHampden Co.PrescottFranklin Co.RogersvilleMiddlesex Co.SmithsFranklin Co.SnellvilleWorcester Co.South East QuarterNantucket Co.South PastureNantucket Co.StonehavenEssex Co.The PlainsNantucket Co.TrowbridgevilleWorcester Co.Truro StationBarnstable Co.Tufts VillageWorcester Co.Union ChapelWorcester Co.Valley FallsWorcester Co.West CornersNorfolk Co.WingaersheekEssex Co.

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