{"nrhp_refnum":"89002276","name":"Wachusett Aqueduct Linear District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Along Wachusett Aqueduct from Wachusett Reservoir to Sudbury Reservoir","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clinton","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.37656950000007,"lon":-71.64831403290762,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-01-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Engineering","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A twelve-mile linear district made up of the Wachusett Aqueduct and its chambers, bridges and small dams, running from the Wachusett Reservoir area in Clinton through Berlin, Northborough, Marlborough and Southborough to Sudbury Reservoir in Massachusetts. It was built in 1896-98.","why_significant":"It was the first aqueduct built under the Metropolitan Water Board to increase fresh water supply for the Boston area, and the first project of that board. It belongs to the third stage of the metropolitan Boston water system's development. It also shows design and construction features typical of the water system as it evolved between 1845 and 1926.","narrative":"This twelve-mile aqueduct carried water from the Nashua River area at Clinton southeast to Sudbury Reservoir in Southborough. Built in 1896-98, it combines two miles of tunnel, seven miles of masonry conduit and three miles of open channel, with four chambers, an aqueduct bridge, six vehicular bridges and three small dams. Notable structures include the seven-arch, granite-faced Assabet River Bridge in Northborough and small granite-faced concrete arch bridges over the open channel. Designs came from the office of Chief Engineer Frederic P. Stearns, and several contractors built the work. It was the first project of the Metropolitan Water Board, created in 1895, and it supplemented the Sudbury reservoirs. After the Wachusett Reservoir opened in 1906-07, it conveyed the Boston area's principal supply until the Quabbin Reservoir was completed in the 1940s. The aqueduct was taken out of service when the Wachusett-Marlborough Tunnel bypassed it in the mid-1960s.","period_of_significance":"1896-1926","architect_builder":"Designed in the office of Chief Engineer Frederic P. Stearns, with Ruben Shirreffs contributing to the Assabet River Bridge; built by Moulton & O'Malley of Boston, Jones, Pollard & Co. of Baltimore, and E. D. Smith & Co. of Philadelphia.","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as not in service; the aqueduct was bypassed by the Wachusett-Marlborough Tunnel in the mid-1960s. General condition is given as fair to good.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.870298-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/29/7936/63793629/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89002276.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002276/528ca1be9a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002276/528ca1be9a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Pi.1415926535","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wachusett_Reservoir_bridge_over_the_Assabet_River_(3),_March_2022.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pi.1415926535</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wachusett_Reservoir_bridge_over_the_Assabet_River_(3),_March_2022.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793629","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachusett_Aqueduct","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7958781"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/wachusett-aqueduct-linear-district-89002276/"}