List of ghost towns in Massachusetts

An example of a "Babson Boulder" at Dogtown, Massachusetts

This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Massachusetts . Ghost towns can include sites in various states of disrepair and abandonment. Some sites no longer have any trace of civilization and have reverted to pasture land or empty fields. Other sites are unpopulated but still have standing buildings. Some sites may even have a sizable, though small population, but there are far fewer citizens than in its grander historic past.

Classification

A lighthouse and part of a Civil War artillery battery are all that remain at Long Point.

Barren site

• Sites no longer in existence
• Sites that have been destroyed
• Covered with water
• Reverted to pasture
• May have a few difficult to find foundations/footings at most

Neglected site

• Only rubble left
• All buildings uninhabited
• Roofless building ruins
• Some buildings or houses still standing, but majority are roofless

Abandoned site

• Building or houses still standing
• Buildings and houses all abandoned
• No population, except caretaker
• Site no longer in existence except for one or two buildings, for example old church, grocery store

Semi-abandoned site

• Building or houses still standing
• Buildings and houses largely abandoned
• Few residents
• Many abandoned buildings
• Small population

Historic community

• Building or houses still standing
• Still a busy community
• Smaller than its boom years
• Population has decreased dramatically, to one fifth or less.

List by county

Barnstable County

• Long Point, also known as Provincetown, was built on a narrow and isolated peninsula on the far end of Cape Cod, ^[1] and the isolated geography cut the town off from access to freshwater ^[2] and made it extremely vulnerable to ocean storms. ^[3]
• Whitewash Village

Berkshire County

• Questing

Bristol County

• Norton Furnace

Essex County

• Dogtown

Franklin County

• Catamount
• Davis
• Hillsboro

Hampshire County

• Enfield, which was submerged to form Quabbin Reservoir ^[4]
• Greenwich, which was submerged to form Quabbin Reservoir
• Prescott, which was submerged to form Quabbin Reservoir

Middlesex County

• Haywardville, a mill town established in the mid-19th century. By 1870 it was deep in decline. In 1894 it was turned into a park and would become Middlesex Fells Reservation. ^[5]

Worcester County

• Dana, submerged to form Quabbin Reservoir

Notes and references

1. A map of the extremity Of Cape Cod including the Townships of Provincetown & Truro: with a chart of their sea coast and of Cape Cod Harbour, State of Massachusetts (Map). 1 : 10,560. Cartography by U.S. Topographical Engineers, under direction of Maj. J.D. Graham; Reduced from orig. by Washington Hood. Bureau of U.S. Topographical Engineers. 1836. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
2. "Historical Timeline of Provincetown, Massachusetts" (PDF). Town of Provincetown. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
3. Vorse, Mary Heaton (1942). A. Heller, J. O'Brien (ed.). Time and the town: a Provincetown chronicle (reprint, illustrated ed.). New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. p. 87. ISBN   9780813517520 . Retrieved May 14, 2012.
4. "The Harvard Advocate". Havard Advocate. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
5. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice (March 14, 2021). "Ghost Towns in Massachusetts". History of Massachusetts Blog. Retrieved February 13, 2023.