Editor’s Note: Sebastian Restrepo is a multimedia specialist at MassLive. The “Forgotten Mass.” photo series represents some of the work he captures from his travels across Massachusetts and beyond. It focuses on abandoned places, hidden gems, historical relics and forgotten lands. If you’d like to submit a tip to New England Uncovered, email srestrepo@masslive.com.
Walking along the side of Boylston Street in late-September in the mid-day sun, I kept feeling gusts of cool, humid air. The wind was different as if filtered through a basement. The wind was sporadic and felt ominous, unfamiliar and out of place on this hot September day.
Massachusetts is full of history, and opportunities to explore and experience it abound. The town of Clinton and Wachusett Reservoir are no exception. The Wachusett Dam is the world’s largest hand-dug gravity dam, meaning that it’s construction was completed using mostly hand tools in the early 1900’s.
According to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Wachusett Dam and reservoir were constructed in the late 1800’s in order to address the needs of a swelling population in and around Boston. The damming of the Nashua River would flood parts of Clinton, Sterling, Boylston and West Boylston adding more than 60 billion gallons to the water supply.
Building the Wachusett Dam was considered a feat of engineering, as its construction was primarily completed using hand tools. Not everything was manual, however. Trains were used to carry in materials during the construction of the Wachusett Reservoir prompting the creation of the tunnel in Clinton.
Walking across the road from the Wachusett Reservoir there is a stone landing that ends abruptly at Boylston Street, flanked on either side where people have walked up toward the tunnel. Approaching the tunnel, it becomes obvious where blasts of cold, humid air were coming from. At more than 1,000 feet long, wind rushing through the tunnel cools and pulls humidity from the dirt floor and concrete walls.
The entrance is covered in graffiti. Walking through the tunnel, the opposite end seems to get farther away. It’s dark inside, and as your shadow elongates on the floor and concrete subtly crumbles to the ground around you, an unnerving feeling takes over.
According to the Mass Central Rail Trail website, there are plans to rehabilitate the tunnel and form a shared use path. Other proposed improvements would include better access to the trail and seating.
Until the rail trail is completed, the tunnel in Clinton serves as a reminder of days long past and what happens to a place when it’s forgotten.
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