Prescott is a former town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts

Hampshire County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 152,251 people, 55,991 households, and 33,818 families residing in the county. The population density was 288 people per square mile . There were 58,644 housing units at an average density of 111 per square mile...

. It was incorporated in 1822 from portions of Pelham

Pelham, Massachusetts

Pelham is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,403 at the 2000 census. It shares the same zip code as Amherst.Pelham is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

 and New Salem

New Salem, Massachusetts

New Salem is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 990 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

. It was named in honor of Colonel William Prescott

William Prescott

William Prescott was an American colonel in the Revolutionary War who commanded the rebel forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill...

, who commanded the American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Battle of Bunker Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...

. It was disincorporated on April 28, 1938 as part of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir

Quabbin Reservoir

The Quabbin Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was built between 1930 and 1939. Today along with the Wachusett Reservoir, it is the primary water supply for Boston, some to the east, as well as 40 other communities in Greater Boston...

. It was the least populated of the four disincorporated towns, with barely 300 residents by 1900. Upon disincorporation, portions of the town were annexed to the adjacent towns of New Salem and Petersham

Petersham, Massachusetts

Petersham is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,234 at the 2010 census. Petersham is home to a considerable amount of conservation land, including the Quabbin Reservation, Harvard Forest, the Swift River Reservation, and Federated Women's Club State...

. The majority of the former town (the New Salem portion) is still above water, and is known as the Prescott Peninsula. The public is not allowed on the peninsula except for a once-a-year tour given by the Swift River Valley Historical Society. None of the land is in Hampshire County any more; the New Salem portion is in Franklin County

Franklin County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 71,535 people, 29,466 households, and 18,416 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 31,939 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...

 and the Petersham portion is in Worcester County

Worcester County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:In 1990 Worcester County had a population of 709,705.As of the census of 2000, there were 750,963 people, 283,927 households, and 192,502 families residing in the county. The population density was 496 people per square mile . There were 298,159 housing units at an average density...

.

As with the nearby town of Dana

Dana, Massachusetts

Dana is a former town located in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Formed from parts of Petersham, Greenwich, and Hardwick, it was incorporated in 1801, and was disincorporated on April 28, 1938, as part of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. Upon disincorporation, most of the town was returned...

, after the disincorporation, houses were moved or razed, but cellar holes remained.

The former site of Prescott Center was home to the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory

Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory

The Five College Radio Astronomical Observatory was an radio astronomy observatory located on a peninsula in the Quabbin Reservoir. It was sited in the town of New Salem, Massachusetts on land that was originally part of Prescott, Massachusetts...

 from 1969 to 2011. Scientific work conducted on the 14-meter radio telescope

Radio telescope

A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...

 will be continued on the modern 50-meter Large Millimeter Telescope

Large Millimeter Telescope

The Large Millimeter Telescope was inaugurated in Mexico on 22 November 2006. It is the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture telescope in its frequency range, built for observing radio waves in the wave lengths from approximately 0.85 to 4 mm...

 in Mexico.

Prescott House, an on-campus living facility at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, is named after the former town.

Quabbin towns

• Greenwich
  Greenwich, Massachusetts
  Greenwich was a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts.It was established in 1739 as Quabbin, incorporated as Quabbin Parish in 1754 and became the town of Greenwich in 1754. It was located along the East and Middle branches of the Swift River...
  
  
• Enfield
  Enfield, Massachusetts
  Enfield was formerly a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, incorporated in 1816 from portions of Greenwich and Belchertown. It was named in honor of one of its early settlers, Robert Field...
  
  
• Dana
  Dana, Massachusetts
  Dana is a former town located in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Formed from parts of Petersham, Greenwich, and Hardwick, it was incorporated in 1801, and was disincorporated on April 28, 1938, as part of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. Upon disincorporation, most of the town was returned...
  
  
• Millington

External links

• http://menotomymaps.com/quab_1.html. Map showing the towns buried under Quabbin as they looked in 1912 with original house locations and current reservoir water level.