Sterling, Massachusetts

The Sterling Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the central village of Sterling, Massachusetts. The district is roughly bounded by Meetinghouse Hill and Main, Maple and Kendall Hill, Boulding, Worcester and Princeton Street. The town common, which is the focal point of the district, was laid out in 1724, when the area was still part of Lancaster. The area includes 18th- and 19th-century houses, as well as several church buildings, and the 1835 town hall.The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Sterling Camp Meeting Grounds, also known at the Worcester Methodist District Camp was a Methodist camp ground founded in 1852 that was located south of the East and West Waushacum Ponds and two miles south of Sterling, Massachusetts. The 14-mile Fitchburg and Worcester Rail Line brought visitors to Sterling Junction, which was a short walk to the Sterling Camp Meeting Grounds. The Boston and Maine Railroad brought people from Boston, Lowell, and Cambridge for the one week to 10-day retreats. More than 1,000 people attended the summer revivals from all over the state of Massachusetts. The site had a number of amenities for lodging, meals, and services.

The Sawyer Homestead was a historic house at 108 Maple Street in Sterling, Massachusetts. With an estimated construction date of 1756, the house was one of Sterling's oldest surviving structures, before it was destroyed by an arsonist in 2007. It was also notable as the birthplace of Mary Sawyer, who alleged she was the subject of the American children's nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb". The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The Sawyer family, whose descendants still own the property, have had a reproduction of the house built on its site.

Sterling Airport (FAA LID: 3B3) is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) southwest of the central business district of Sterling, a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is privately owned by Monadnock Realty Corp.It is a fairly inexpensive place to rent airplanes, as the starting rate is $99/hour for a two-seater Cessna 150. The airport has many parking spaces, open-air and in hangars. The Sterling Airport closes its runways in early September for the Sterling Fair, during which time, all the aircraft tied down on the field must be flown elsewhere. Even the glider trailers are moved off-field. But after the fair, the airport opens for normal operations once again. Sterling Airport is also the home of the Greater Boston Soaring Club.

The Stephen Hastings House is a historic house at 20 Squareshire Road in Sterling, Massachusetts. Built in 1794, this 2+1⁄2-story house is believed to be the earliest brick house built in what is now Sterling. The brick is laid in Flemish bond on the front facade, and in English bond on the other three sides, and there are four large end-wall chimneys. A kitchen ell, dating to the 20th century, extends from the rear of the house. Most of its styling (both interior and exterior) is Federal, although some Greek Revival styling was added in the 19th century.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

The Stillwater River is part of the Nashua River watershed. This river is part of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority system that supplies drinking water to the greater Boston area. The Stillwater River rises in Princeton, Massachusetts, the watershed generally known as the Upper Worcester Plateau, or the Monadnock Upland. This watershed tops at Wachusett Mountain, the highest feature in the area. Water flowing east from this high ground feeds the Nashua River Watershed, and water flowing west feeds the Ware River or the Millers River, both heading to the Connecticut River. The Stillwater flows 8.1 miles (13.0 km) through Princeton and Sterling before joining the Quinapoxet River at the Wachusett Reservoir in West Boylston to form the south branch of the Nashua River. The Stillwater and Quinapoxet rivers are the two major tributaries to the Wachusett Reservoir, which serves as the primary source of water for 2.5 million consumers in 43 communities of central and eastern Massachusetts. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), operates stream-flow monitoring gages near the mouths of both rivers. This and other continuous monitoring serves to maintain the overall quality of water within the reservoir. The water of these tributaries to the Wachusett Reservoir has been of high quality for decades. About 47% of the Stillwater sub-basin is permanently protected open space. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority owns much of the land. The Town of Holden owns over 600 acres (2.4 km2) as the Trout Brook Conservation Area, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society owns several hundred acres in the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary in addition to other properties within this sub-basin.

The Oakdale Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing the small 19th-century village of Oakdale in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Located at the confluence of the Stillwater and Quinepoxet Rivers near their outlet into the Wachusett Reservoir, the village consists mainly of Greek Revival houses, although later Victorian styles are also present in smaller numbers. Its state of preservation is partly because development in the area was effectively halted when the process of building the reservoir began in the 1890s. A significant portion of the village was destroyed to make way for the reservoir, and railroads and industry were forced to relocate.The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Cemetery Island is a heavily forested island located in the Wachusett Reservoir in Clinton, Massachusetts. The island's name came from its being part of an old burial ground that was flooded by the creation of the reservoir; 3,816 bodies were removed and reinterred in St. John's Cemetery in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Clinton Senior High School, is a secondary school located at 200 West Boylston St., in Clinton, Massachusetts, United States.

The Quinapoxet River is part of the Nashua River watershed in northern Massachusetts in the United States. It is part of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority water system supplying drinking water to the greater Boston area. The river's name derives from the Nipmuc language, meaning "at the place of the little long pond" or "the long swamp."The uppermost tributaries of the Quinapoxet River rise in the town of Princeton, Massachusetts, the watershed generally known as the Upper Worcester Plateau, or the Monadnock Upland. This watershed tops at Wachusett Mountain, the highest feature in the area. Water flowing east from this high ground feeds the Nashua River watershed, and water flowing west feeds the Ware River or the Millers River watersheds, heading to the Connecticut River. The Quinapoxet Dam in Holden impounds 1,100.0 million US gallons in the Quinapoxet Reservoir, a Worcester drinking water supply. Below the dam, the Quinapoxet River flows 7.9 miles (12.7 km) east to the Wachusett Reservoir, joining the Stillwater River (to become the south branch of the Nashua River) in the Oakdale section of West Boylston. The city of Worcester can divert up to 36% of the Quinapoxet River water. The Quinapoxet Dam is an earthen dam with a concrete spillway. The outflow is not adjustable, so the reservoir only supplies excess water to the Quinapoxet River. The MWRA is planning to remove the Quinapoxet Dam. The Quinapoxet and Stillwater rivers are the two major tributaries to the Wachusett Reservoir, which serves as the primary source of water for 2.5 million consumers in 43 communities of central and eastern Massachusetts. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, operates stream-flow monitoring gages near the mouths of both rivers. This and other continuous monitoring serves to maintain the overall quality of water within the reservoir. The water of these tributaries to the Wachusett Reservoir has been of high quality for decades. About 35% of the Quinapoxet sub-basin is protected open space (Worcester reservoirs' surface water included). The City of Worcester owns the land that immediately surrounds each of its reservoirs and approximately 25% of its entire water supply watershed. It is a highly protected forest with no public access. Furthermore, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) owns much of the land. The Town of Holden owns over 600 acres (2.4 km2) as the Trout Brook Conservation Area, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society owns several hundred acres in the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, in addition to other properties within this sub-basin. The lower Quinapoxet rates on alert for biology, chemistry and hydrology. Chaffins Brook is considered a "moderately septic polluted stream", and its lower reach has noxious aquatic plants in an impoundment. Trout Brook in Holden is considered to be high quality habitat and have limited disturbance. There are a number of medium yield aquifers surrounding Holden center, and to protect this resource the town has passed an aquifer protection bylaw.

The Quinapoxet River Bridge is a historic bridge in West Boylston, Massachusetts, USA, carrying Thomas Street over the Quinapoxet River near its mouth at the Wachusett Reservoir. It is a concrete bridge faced in ashlar stone and was built in 1903 as part of the reservoir's construction. The bridge uses unusual construction methods designed to make it appear like an aqueduct, in a manner similar to the Ash Street Bridge in Weston, built at the time of the construction of the Weston Aqueduct.The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The Quabbin Aqueduct carries water from the Quabbin Reservoir to the Wachusett Reservoir. It is part of the Eastern Massachusetts public water supply system, maintained by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). At 25 miles (40 km) in length, it is one of the longest aqueduct tunnels in the world being 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) shorter than the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct.