Watershed Decisions: Arthur Shurcliff's Vision of the Quabbin Reservoir, 1922-1945

This presentation will provide a brief historical overview of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts, a massive public-works project that led to the disincorporation of four rural towns in the western portion of the Commonwealth and radically transformed 39 square miles of land during the 1930s and 1940s. After tracing the arc of this story, it will delve into the environmental worldview and vision of the Quabbin project held by Arthur Shurcliff, the landscape architect employed by the Boston Metropolitan District Commission to reform the grounds surrounding this new, artificial lake.