The Old Stone Church - A Lone Survivor's Abandoned Shell

West Boylston Massachusetts today is not the West Boylston it was 150 years ago. In the 1800s this was a developing factory town with businesses up and down the Stillwater River, but if you drive the stretch of Route 140 today that runs through this former hotbed you won't see any of those structures remaining - the factories have long since been destroyed and the houses either moved or torn down. But what you will see are two impressive and very different things, and whose histories are intertwined. One is an extremely large reservoir that helps serve the modern day city of Boston, and the other is the remains of the Old Stone Church, which stand on the banks of that reservoir.




In the 1890's construction of the Wachusett Reservoir was an inconvenience to many surrounding towns, but none more so than West Boylston. The reservoir's creation forced the closing of factories that depended on the river, devastating the community and sending many residents packing to look for work elsewhere. It wasn't until years later, when use of the automobile became commonplace and the town found itself as a handy little bedroom community to the city of Worcester, that it began attracting residents again and a new epicenter of town was born.

But through this decades long ordeal one building remained, spared the wrecking ball by its beauty to West Boylston's residents and attraction to visitors of the town. The Old Stone Church.

This was actually the second church to be built on this site. In 1832 the original was constructed for the West Boylston Baptist Society, but on May 2nd 1890 - a bad day for churches - both this and a neighboring catholic church burned to the ground. It was quickly rebuilt, but by 1902 was forced to close for good due to the reservoir's construction, an inconvenience for which the Baptist Society was awarded $22,000 by the Metropolitan Water Board. The structure was gutted and left empty, and that is how it remains over 100 years later when we took our family to see it.

Having been inducted into the National Register of Historic Places the church is open to the public, and wandering throughout its dirt floors and support beams feels like a little bit like walking through a ancient ruin. The empty windows also proved to be just the right height for a couple members of our group to hang out in.

In one of my more fanciful breaks from reality, I came here with the idea that I'd somehow be able to scale the inside wall of its magnificent bell-tower.

But I don't shoot spider webs from my wrists, and as such never made it more than a few feet off the ground. I could only imagine how great the view would be from the top.

Our visit coincided with a wedding party that made the really cool choice of having their photo shoot taken here, and although they clogged up the main entrance for much of the afternoon, the kids were able to moan and groan about family pictures just as well from the church's side entrance.

This is not the type of place most people would spend an entire day at, but if you even find yourself near central Massachusetts it's definitely worth the detour to walk around and enjoy its beauty, both inside and out.

Just head down Route 140 in West Boylston and look for the giant flag, you cannot miss it.

Links:
Location of Old Stone Church