Church was spared when reservoir created

By Susan Harragin CORRESPONDENT Telegram.com

WEST BOYLSTON— While historians know a great deal about what happened through the years in Massachusetts, no one seems to know why the Old Stone Church was left standing when the state flooded Wachusett Reservoir lands in 1908.

Yesterday, as part of the town’s yearlong bicentennial celebration, state park rangers Rebecca E. Baronoski and Timothy O’Connor recounted the story of the creation of the reservoir and the relocation of much of downtown West Boylston to higher ground. There were also tours of other historic buildings in town.

“We don’t really know why they left the church when they moved everything else,” Ms. Baronoski said while standing in front of the abandoned structure. “It was probably precisely because it was stone, which was unusual for churches at that time.”

All wooden structures, which would decompose and might pollute Boston’s water, were removed down to their foundations; even structures that were not going to be underwater were removed as part of a buffer zone needed to protect the water supply. Buildings were broken down and reassembled or rolled intact to new sites.

According to local historian Frank Brown, before the advent of manufacturing the earliest town center was closer to the cemetery at Routes 12 and 140.

“As the mills came in the 1800s, businesses and services grew up next to them, and the mills were along the Nashua River,” Mr. Brown said. “The town center naturally moved to where the businesses were.”

Mr. Brown said he feels the church was left as a memorial to commemorate the sacrifice and flexibility of the people who lived and worked in the area. The police station, taverns, textile mills, post office, fire station, general store and, of course, homes were among many structures that had to be relocated.

Emily Radkowski, 8, of Shrewsbury, the great-great-granddaughter of one West Boylston family that relocated, asked, “How many towns had to be moved?”

Ms. Baronoski answered that parts of Boylston, West Boylston, Sterling and Clinton were taken by the state through eminent domain to create the 6-1/2-square-mile reservoir. Some 1,000 people and 360 homes were displaced. Only the roads and a few steel bridges — and of course, the stone Baptist church — remained standing.

Old Stone Church Day also included events at the Historical Society building and the Masonic Temple.

The Historical Society displayed the silver church instruments that had been used by the parishioners of the Baptist church. Society members were on hand to answer questions and pass out refreshments.

Members of the West Boylston Masonic Temple were also available to answer questions about their building on Church Street. After the completion of the reservoir, the congregation of the Baptist Church built a new wooden church to replace the stone church, which had only been used for 10 years. The Masonic Order purchased this wooden building in the early 1970s. The lodge still uses the pews of the original church and enjoys the view through the stained glass windows, which were preserved from the original church as well.

Additionally, the lodge hosted an art show displaying paintings and photographs of the Old Stone Church created through the years, mostly by local residents.

“It is interesting,” Mr. Brown said, “that the church has a longer history as a relic than it had as a church.”