Lost Towns Brewing is known for remembering the neighborhood’s rich history and their catchy slogan “You’re not lost, you’re found at Lost Towns Brewing!”
The taproom was also found in NBC10 Boston’s original documentary, “The Dividing Scar: Massachusetts and the Four Lost Towns” which debuted in May 2022 and details the story of the Quabbin Reservoir.
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This year though, the documentary was found in the taproom.
“Dividing Scar” is the name of a 5.6% ABV English Pale Ale canned at the brewery and described on their menu as a “Rich amber color, medium body with a fruity aroma. Toffee and malt combine for a medium sweetness and a smooth, refreshing, dry finish. Boston needed water and Western Massachusetts was chosen to build a reservoir — 2,500 people lived there. In 1938 the state took the land and the Quabbin Reservoir was constructed.”
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The taproom is decorated with maps, old picture postcards and marketing materials about the Quabbin reservoir and its history.
“In the name of our beers, we also use a lot of the Quabbin references and a lot of the local town references,” Co-owner of Lost Towns Brewing, Paul Spurrell, said.
“We wanted to make sure that as we built a community-based brewery, that it was rooted in the history of this area.”
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As the population began to boom in the late 1800s-early 1900s, Boston was running out of water. The Commonwealth passed the Swift River Act in 1927, allowing the state to take land in the Swift River Valley. This meant that four entire towns – Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott – as well as pieces of surrounding towns were to be removed. The 2,500 residents in that area were forced to leave as their homes were taken down, the land was stripped and burned in order to make space to create a reservoir.
The Quabbin reservoir was complete by 1946 – and now hosts more than 412 billion gallons of water to supply clean water to 40% of Massachusetts. But for the descendants of the towns, there’s a lingering feeling of resentment and sadness for the loss of their relative’s homes and their family heritage.
The documentary features descendants of the people from the towns who share their stories as well as local businesses which commemorate the towns in some way including Lost Town Brewing.
You can watch the film here:
