When he published the 2025 Quabbin History Calendar, J.R. Greene considered that it might be the final edition of the annual product he has produced since the mid-1980s.
But a swarm of calls, emails and letters convinced the lifelong Athol resident to put together another one, and he’s not ruling out more down the line.
“So far, I’ve gotten positive feedback on it,” Greene said of the 41st version.
His calendars consist of photos of the towns and villages that were flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir in the late 1930s. The reservoir is now a primary source of drinking water for the Boston metropolitan area.
An act of the state Legislature disincorporated Dana, Prescott, Enfield and Greenwich on April 28, 1938, allowing for the reservoir’s creation. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation first took numerous black-and-white photographs of the disincorporated towns for posterity before the flooding occurred.
The images in the 2026 calendar include girls cooking steak over an open fire at a Greenwich summer camp for Jewish children, the North Road Schoolhouse in eastern Barre, the Crawford & Tyler Mills in the northern part of Dana, and ice houses that Clarence Lyman owned in the western part of Hardwick. This edition brings the number of photos presented in these calendars to nearly 500.
“I think the January one is kind of interesting … evocative of the life in the valley,” Greene said, referencing an image depicting the saw and grist mills that brothers William and George Walker operated for many years in Greenwich village. The photo, taken circa 1905, shows a load of beams being hauled away from the mill by two horses. A large number of harvested trees, destined to be cut into lumber, can be seen in the background.
The cover consists of a photo of Enfield Town Hall, the site of a farewell ball on April 27, 1938, when some residents danced the night away before the four towns were disincorporated at midnight. Dr. Willard Segur, a popular country physician, organized the event and led a moment of silence as the clock struck 12 a.m. He then led the band in a rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.”
Greene, 70, makes his living as a collectibles dealer specializing in ephemera, or materials that were written or printed without the intent of being preserved or collected, such as letters, postcards, booklets and pamphlets.
He said 2026 will be the 100th anniversary of the Ware River Act, which laid the legal and practical groundwork for the subsequent Swift River Act of 1927 authorizing the construction of the main Quabbin Reservoir by damming the Swift River and diverting the Ware River.
The calendar retails for $17.95 and is available at outlets throughout Franklin County and the North Quabbin region, including Federal Street Books in Greenfield, the New Salem General Store and Bates Crafters Gallery in Orange. Anyone who is interested in purchasing a copy can also send Greene an email at jrg01331@webtv.net, though sales tax and shipping costs are added if a calendar is ordered through the mail.