Our own Amazing Race

By adamg - 12/11/07 - 1:05 am

Who will be first to visit all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns? Michael got a head start, but Laura and Bobb are coming on fast. Both teams are chronicling their treks with photos.

Photos

Comments

All the towns, eh? What

By Anonymous (not verified) - 12/11/07 - 1:54 am

All the towns, eh? What about Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott?

I'm sure they'll get to

By stephencaldwell - 12/11/07 - 8:15 am

I'm sure they'll get to those too in good time.

Everybody's a kidder

By adamg - 12/11/07 - 8:52 am

Do they allow Scuba diving in the Quabbin now?

I seriously had no idea they

By stephencaldwell - 12/11/07 - 7:52 pm

I seriously had no idea they were flooded by the Quabbin. Learn something new everyday.

My car doesn't have the right equipment

By Michael - 12/11/07 - 12:00 pm

I'm trying to get in touch with the guy who found the Titanic, but he ain't cheap.

Remains of the Dana

By SwirlyGrrl Not logged in (not verified) - 12/11/07 - 12:36 pm

You can still visit Dana, in it's disincorporated state, and view the ruins of the town hall and a number of the residences.

How do you get there?

By Says_bomb (not verified) - 12/11/07 - 7:13 pm

Really? That's cool! How do you get there? (Google Maps won't seem to tell me. :( )

Dana, MA

By Ron Newman - 12/11/07 - 11:21 pm

If you type "Dana, MA" into Google Maps, the second option that it offers you is "Dana Center, Petersham, MA". I think that's the place.

Part of the Quabbin Reservoir Lands

By SwirlyGrrl - 12/11/07 - 11:30 pm

You can hike/bike there on usable roads. Try searching "quabbin reservoir hiking". It turns up in quite a number of hiking and mountain biking books. You have to ride or walk in - roads are still there, if a bit messy.

We found the area by looking for geocaches - geocaching.com.

geocaching is what happens

By stephencaldwell - 12/11/07 - 11:38 pm

geocaching is what happens when nerds leave the house.</tongue-in-cheek>

No place for this race

By Bobb (not verified) - 12/12/07 - 5:31 pm

As I told Michael today, the only thing Laura and I are racing is old age in hopes that we can somehow finish this quest before we die! I have heard of at least one other person who has been to them all already (a firefighter who has pictures of the 351 fire stations), so we're all shooting for second place anyway. Hopefully, more insane/bored/adventurous people like us and Michael decide to explore our state some more too!

Fire trucks, fire houses and Town Halls

By parsimonious (not verified) - 12/13/07 - 10:30 am

I reference this site for work, but it also has links for each fire house and Town/City Hall:

www.massfiretrucks.com

Enjoy !!

Massachusetts 351

By Michael Boynton (not verified) - 12/31/07 - 10:32 am

Hello,

I just stumbled across this site and noticed that the previous poster referenced my massfiretrucks.com web site. It is true indeed that I have visited all 351 (except the 4 below Quabbin). It has been a great thrill to accomplish the "mission" as there truly are some very beautiful locations in this state. The degree of variation from the dunes of P-Town to the bustle of the Back Bay to the views from Route 2 in Florida is amazing. I started the quest in 2004 and finished it in 2007 with a photo of the sub-fire station in Monroe. The only "station" missing from the site is a small outpost building on Tuckernuck Island off the coast of Nantucket. That is a 2008 goal.

I have also visited all but 2 fire stations in Rhode Island as well....both on islands. Those are Block Island and Prudence Island.

To those taking the effort to visit all of Massachusetts, best of luck! You will truly enjoy your stops along the way.

Michael B.