Swift River (Ware River tributary)

Train going over a trestle bridge above the Swift River in 1910
Construction of the Route 32 / Route 122 bridge over the Swift River in 2009 near Petersham, Massachusetts

The Swift River is a river in Massachusetts, United States. It has an east branch, a west branch, and a middle branch.[1] It is a tributary of the Ware River. Part of it is dammed in the Swift River Valley to form the Quabbin Reservoir serving Boston and Eastern Massachusetts.[2] Several towns were lost when the reservoir was constructed and filled.[3]

Swift River Reservation entrance

Swift River Reservation is located along the east branch.

Swift River Academy buildings

The former Academy at Swift River was located in Plainfield, Massachusetts. It is now a drug addiction treatment facility.[4]

Letting Swift River Go, a picture book by Jane Yolen with watercolor illustrations by Barbara Cooney, describes the flooding of the valley to create the reservoir.

  1. ^ Pierce, Charles Henry; Dean, Henry Jennings (10 January 2019). "Surface Waters of Massachusetts". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Bassett, Lynne Z. (10 January 2019). Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth. UPNE. ISBN 9781584657453 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Peirce, Elizabeth (10 January 2019). The Lost Towns of the Quabbin Valley. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738512198 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "At Swift River, high-end drug treatment that can't be for everyone". The Berkshire Eagle.