Quaboag Plantation was a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

founded in 1660 in Central

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

that now makes up parts of the towns of

Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

and New Braintree, 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. He was also a colonial treasurer, original patentee of the Massachu ...

began to have personal and business relationships with the Quaboag 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 res ...

came to settle the new land for the Colony. A

garrison A garrison 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 military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

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" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

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

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

, 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 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

. 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 the Massachusetts Bay Colony 1673 disestablishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony New Braintree, Massachusetts West Brookfield, Massachusetts North Brookfield, Massachusetts {{WorcesterCountyMA-geo-stub