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State hub · Massachusetts
Massachusetts's ghost towns are mostly colonial hill settlements, mill villages and fishing hamlets that people walked away from, and four whole towns the state erased for Boston's water. Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott were disincorporated on April 28, 1938, for the Quabbin Reservoir; about 2,500 people lost their homes, and the reservoir filled by 1946. Most of Enfield and Greenwich are under water. Dana Common and the Prescott Peninsula are still dry land.
Elsewhere the land simply emptied. Dogtown, the upland village on Cape Ann, was all but abandoned by 1828. The Long Point fishing village at the tip of Cape Cod floated its houses across Provincetown Harbor in the 1850s, and Whitewash Village on Monomoy lost its harbor to a storm around 1860. Haywardville, where rubber goods were made on Spot Pond Brook, was bought by the state in 1894 for the Middlesex Fells. In the hills, the Davis pyrite mine in Rowe closed after a 1911 collapse, and Catamount and Questing were farm settlements left to the woods.
What remains is cellar holes, stone walls, carved boulders and a few markers, much of it on state or land-trust property open to walkers.
Where to start
Open attractions, living towns and true ruins, with their current status.
Worcester County
Town incorporated in 1801 and disincorporated on April 28, 1938, for the Quabbin Reservoir. Most of it is still above water: cellar holes and a 1996 marker on Dana Common, reached on foot by the old road from Gate 40 on Route 32A, about 3.6 miles round trip. DCR allows walkers from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset; no dogs.
Hampshire County
Swift River town incorporated in 1816; its center is under the Quabbin, and its town hall was the last building razed in the valley, in 1940. Quabbin Park, the Enfield Lookout and the visitor center are on its old land; DCR posted vehicle hours of 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. as of October 18, 2026, and the stone tower on Quabbin Hill was closed for renovations: you can visit it but not climb it.
Franklin County
The smallest Quabbin town, with barely 300 people by 1900. Most of it is now the Prescott Peninsula, closed to the public, per Wikipedia's September 2026 revision, apart from tours and hikes the Swift River Valley Historical Society has led; we found no 2026 dates. Its church was moved to South Hadley as a museum.
Essex County
Upland village on Cape Ann settled in 1693, with 60 to 80 homes at its peak; the last resident was taken to the poor house in 1830. Numbered cellar holes and Roger Babson's carved boulders line woodland trails between Gloucester and Rockport. The Cape Ann Museum led a three-mile walk from the Cherry Street lot on June 1, 2025.
Middlesex County
Rubber-mill village on Spot Pond Brook in Stoneham, where Nathaniel Hayward worked with Charles Goodyear. The state bought it in 1894 for the Middlesex Fells and moved its buildings out. Only traces remain, reached by trails in Virginia Wood, in a DCR reservation open sunrise to sunset with free parking on Woodland Road; DCR asks walkers to stay on the trails.
Berkshire County
Hill near the site of New Marlborough's first fort, later farmed by the Leffingwell family, who left in the Great Depression. Cellar holes and stone walls lie along about two miles of trails in a Trustees reservation, open daily sunrise to sunset, free; the eight-car lot is not plowed in winter.
Barnstable County
Fishing and salt-making village at the tip of Cape Cod, home to 38 families by 1846. Its people floated about 30 houses across Provincetown Harbor in the 1850s. Only the lighthouse, first lit in 1827, and a Civil War earthwork remain, reached on foot across the mile-long Long Point dike and the sand beyond; check the tide first.
Near a city
Driving distance and time from downtown, routed over OpenStreetMap roads. Dirt roads are usually slower than the estimate.
Directory
Every town, camp and settlement in our Massachusetts index, with its county. A ◦ marks sites already on the map.
No sites match. Try fewer letters or another county.
Plan a trip
The Quabbin is a drinking-water supply for 2.7 million people, and DCR limits what you can do there. Walkers may enter only through designated gates and areas, from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. Dogs are not allowed anywhere on Quabbin land, not even in parked cars. No swimming, fires, camping, drones or horses, and groups of 25 or more need a permit. Parking at the gates is free (DCR page, read October 28, 2026). The Prescott Peninsula is closed to the public.
Quabbin Park's gates are locked overnight; DCR posted vehicle hours of 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. as of October 18, 2026, and the park and visitor center close on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Questing's lot is not plowed in winter, and hunting is allowed there in season, so wear orange in the fall. Middlesex Fells is open sunrise to sunset. Bring insect repellent to Dogtown in summer.
The walk to Long Point starts on the Long Point dike, a 6,150-foot line of granite blocks across Provincetown Harbor, then crosses the sand past Wood End. Check a tide chart before you set out: the flats beside the dike can be walked at low tide, when the top of the dike stands about 20 feet above the sand. Gaps between the blocks are often filled with dried grass and debris that won't hold your weight.
On DCR land, which includes the Quabbin and Middlesex Fells, no one may damage, disturb or remove any cultural or historic resource, metal detectors are allowed only with staff permission to find lost personal property (sandy beaches excepted), archaeological digging needs a State Archaeologist's permit, and any historic artifact you find must be reported to DCR (302 CMR 12.04). On Trustees land, stay on the marked trails to protect historic features.
FAQ
We found no official count. Wikipedia's list, which calls itself incomplete, named 13 places in its May 3, 2026 version. Our index lists 18 sites in Massachusetts, 12 of them with coordinates; a few, such as Westville in Taunton, are living neighborhoods.
Four towns were disincorporated on April 28, 1938, for the Quabbin: Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott. Most of Enfield and Greenwich are under water, and Greenwich's hilltops are now islands. Most of Dana and the Prescott Peninsula are still dry land. Graves and town memorials were moved to Quabbin Park Cemetery in Ware.
Yes, on foot. Park at Gate 40 on Route 32A in Petersham and walk the old road, about 3.6 miles round trip. Cars are not allowed past the gate, and dogs are not allowed on Quabbin land. DCR also leads free guided walks; one was scheduled for September 26, 2026.
Dana Common and Dogtown are the most rewarding walks. Dana has a town common, cellar holes and a marker in open woods; Dogtown has numbered cellar holes and Babson's carved boulders on trails off Cherry Street in Gloucester. Parking at the Quabbin gates is free.
Not on your own. The peninsula is closed to the public; the Swift River Valley Historical Society, whose museum is in New Salem, has run an annual tour and guided hikes there, but we found no 2026 dates, so ask the society. North Prescott, at the New Salem line, is partly open.
Abandoned