Quaboag Plantation was a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

founded in 1660 in Central

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

that now makes up parts of the towns of

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

and

New Braintree New Braintree is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 996 at the 2020 census. History Before being settled by re-located residents of Braintree, Massachusetts, New Braintree was occupied by various Nat ...

, as well as the whole towns of Brookfield, West Brookfield, North Brookfield, and East Brookfield. In 1673, the plantation broke up as the various towns that made up its land became incorporated.

History

Back as early as 1636,

William Pynchon William Pynchon (October 11, 1590 – October 29, 1662) was an English colonist and fur trader in North America best known as the founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He was also a colonial treasurer, original patentee of the Massachu ...

began to have personal and business relationships with the Quoboag Indians (whom the settlement is named after) that lasted 40 years. In 1660, his son John took over business at his Springfield plantation and wanted to build a new plantation that was about halfway between Boston and Springfield, to shorten a long trip that was normally done by ship. John purchased the land in what is now the lands of the Brookfields, Warren, and New Braintree. 20 families from

Ipswich, Massachusetts Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A reside ...

came to settle the new land for the Colony. A

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

was built as well to protect the Europeans from the Natives. The nearest towns at the time were Springfield, a 25-mile journey through the wilderness, and

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

which was 44 miles away. As more and more settlers came from all over

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

, the town eventually became incorporated as the "Township of Brookfield". Two years later though, the town was abandoned after it was ransacked by the Indians fighting for

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

. In 1686, the court was willing to reopen expansion back into the Brookfields and it has been growing ever since. The name Quaboag is currently used for the

Quaboag River The Quaboag River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in Massachusetts that heads at Quaboag Pond in Brookfield at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, the Quaboag Marathon and other such things around the Brookfield region. Plantations in Massachusetts 1660 establishments in Massachusetts 1673 disestablishments in the Thirteen Colonies New Braintree, Massachusetts West Brookfield, Massachusetts North Brookfield, Massachusetts {{WorcesterCountyMA-geo-stub