Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Puglia Italy - Matera
Italy • 8 days, 7 nights
Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia
from
Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater
Turkmenistan • 10 days, 9 nights
Turkmenistan & the Gates of Hell
from
View all trips
Loading...
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Order a flight of infused ya dong shots.
Tep Bar
Thai-Chinese makes up Bangkok’s largest diaspora.
Nai Ek Roll Noodle
This fried chicken is one of Bangkok’s most famous.
Gai Tord Jae Kee
Chefs Aruss Lerlerstkull and Atcharaporn Kiatthanawat lean into regional traditions.
Charmgang
The khao soi at Gedhawa comes with a rich, coconutty broth.
Gedhawa
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Ripples in the land are remnants of the field walls that once held rows of native sugarcane and sweet potatoes.
Unearthing the Mysteries of Hawai'i's Ancient Agriculture
Petrified Forest National Park.
Beware the Legends Behind These National Park Souvenirs
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Massachusetts Williamstown The Spruces

The Spruces

This abandoned neighborhood is now a park filled with beautiful trees, wildflowers, and hints of its past.

Williamstown, Massachusetts

Added By
N J
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The entrance.   Beyond My Ken/cc by-sa 4.0
Left lion statue at the entrance.   achesnais / Atlas Obscura User
The Spruces.   nka / Atlas Obscura User
The entrance statues as seen from the street.   achesnais / Atlas Obscura User
Oct. 2019   Melissylvania / Atlas Obscura User
Oct. 2019   Melissylvania / Atlas Obscura User
Oct. 2019   Melissylvania / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

This Place Is a Stub

Help improve this place with additional information or photos.

Make an Edit

About

Visitors traveling on Route 2 between Williamstown and North Adams, Massachusetts, pass two white lion statues resting on high pedestals. The great cats flank a dirt road lined with spruce trees. When deciding whether to travel down that dirt road, your imagination may fill with expectations of finding a decrepit estate waiting at the end.

If you turn and travel down that dirt road, you'll soon find yourself immersed in what is obviously the grid of an old neighborhood. Everything was clearly abandoned and razed in the not-so-distant past.

This land was a mobile home park called the Spruces prior to 2011. The municipality of Williamstown condemned the community after the Hoosic River, which flows behind it, overflowed its banks during Tropical Storm Irene. The waters destroyed all 226 homes. The land is now an odd park that hasn't shaken off the essences of its former inhabitants.

Perhaps the best memorials to the personalities of this ghosted neighborhood's former residents are the trees they left behind, a Japanese red maple here, a cypress there. Those scattered trees continue to grow among the grass and butterfly-filled wildflower patches, which are steadily overtaking the land. The blue Berkshire Mountains provide a distant backdrop in nearly every direction.

The Spruces was created as a retirement community in 1954 by eccentric millionaire Albert Bachand, whose personality defined it for its first 14 years. It was Bachand who created the white lion statues that sit at the entrance of the park, as well as other features that once existed there, such as a 102-foot long covered bridge, a windmill, and a lighthouse. Bachand also created "Whispering Fountains" pond for the community, which featured 1,500 water jets and was considered one of the largest water displays in the country at one time.

 

Related Tags

Parks Trees Floods Abandoned Plants

Community Contributors

Added By

nka

Edited By

johnseven, dataedge, Melissylvania, Kerry Wolfe...

  • johnseven
  • dataedge
  • Melissylvania
  • Kerry Wolfe
  • achesnais

Published

July 29, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.iberkshires.com/story/39300/Williamstown-Rules-Spruces-Uninhabitable-.html
  • https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/the-spruces-gone-but-not-forgotten,177646
  • https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&mid=1N6KBnWkj1Y6x1OXpEpeZHZj4uxE&ll=42.70269563623827%2C-73.17864973863448&z=17
  • http://www.williamstown.com/obituaries_new.php?ob_id=2703
The Spruces
Main Street and Smith Avenue
Williamstown, Massachusetts
United States
42.702382, -73.178315
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Hillside Cemetery

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Harmonic Bridge

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

United States

Places 541
Stories 42

Nearby Places

Hillside Cemetery

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Harmonic Bridge

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

United States

Places 541
Stories 42

Related Places

  • A pecan tree.

    Chesterfield, Missouri

    Pecan Legacy Park

    After miraculously surviving a giant flood, the 19th-century nut tree and its offspring are protected with their own tiny park.

  • Hanegi Park plum blossoms

    Tokyo, Japan

    Hanegi Park

    The 650 red and white Japanese plum trees of this Tokyo neighborhood blossom each spring.

  • 40 trees line the avenue, and you have to drive around them

    Larkspur, California

    Dolliver Park

    At night, a grove of towering redwood trees growing through the pavement block out all light from the so-called “Dark Park” of Madrone Avenue.

  • Crooked Slide Park

    Barry's Bay, Ontario

    Crooked Slide Park

    Inside this park, an engineering marvel from the early 20th-century still stands.

  • Brea, California

    Brea Redwood Grove

    A non-native grove of 241 redwoods in Southern California.

  • The “pine.”

    Valle de Bravo, Mexico

    Ahuehuete Multicentenario

    This beloved, centuries-old tree stands at the center of a small park dotted with archaeological artifacts.

  • Giant Oak Park.

    Peoria, Illinois

    Giant Oak Park

    A massive bur oak tree believed to be some 500 years old is the centerpiece of this quiet urban greenspace.

  • Faerie Village

    Surrey, British Columbia

    Faerie Village of Redwood Park

    A colorful hidden village of the fair folk.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.