Christmas Light Installation in New Braintree, MA

Before being settled by re-located residents of Braintree, Massachusetts, New Braintree was occupied by various Native American groups for at least 9,000 years.

In 1669, the town of Braintree, located southeast of Boston, voted that each household would be granted an equal interest in the 6000 acres purchased to the west, to be known as “Braintree Farms”. The town’s lands were formerly a part of the Quaboag Plantation. In ensuing years additional tracts of land which were formerly part of Brookfield and Hardwick were acquired. The land was first settled in 1709 and was officially incorporated in 1751 as New Braintree.

It has been the home of the since 1992. Governor Michael Dukakis had proposed and began construction of a controversial state prison in the late 1980s on this site, but was met with heavy opposition by the town, Boston-area radio talk show host Jerry Williams and a group called C.O.S.T. (Conserve Our Small Town). Governor William Weld was elected and ceased the construction of the prison. The state police training academy now occupies the grounds and buildings of the former Seventh-day Adventist Pioneer Valley Academy. In the photo shown, one can see the school’s former boys’ and girls’ dormitories with the cafeteria in between and the water tower to the right of the boys’ dormitory. The school opened its doors in September 1965 and closed in June 1983.