Wachusett, or “Great Watchusett Hill,” as it was originally called, lies in the northern part of the township of Princeton, and is about fifty miles due west from Boston.  The Nashaways, or Nashuas, originally held this tract and all the land west of the river that still bears their name, and they gave to this mountain and the region around its base the name of “Watchusett.”  Rising by a gradual ascent from its base, it has the appearance of a vast dome.  The Reverend Peter Whitney[2] speaking of its dimensions, says:  “The circumference of this monstrous mass is about three miles, and its height is 3,012 feet above the level of the sea, as was found by the Hon. John Winthrop, Esq., LL.D., in the year 1777:  and this must be 1,800 or 1,900 feet above the level of the adjacent country.”  More recent measurements have not materially changed these figures, so they may be regarded as substantially correct.

The first mention, and probably the first sight, of this mountain, or of any portion of the region now comprised in Worcester County, is recorded in Governor Winthrop’s journal, in which, under the date of January 27, 1632, is written:  “The Governour and some company with him, went up by Charles River about eight miles above Watertown.”  The party after climbing an eminence in the vicinity of their halting-place saw “a very high hill, due west about forty miles off, and to the N.W. the high hills by Merrimack, above sixty miles off,” The “very high hill” seen by them for the first time was unquestionably Wachusett.

“On the 20th of October, 1759, the General Court of Massachusetts, passed an act for incorporating the east wing, so called, of Rutland, together with sundry farms and some publick lands contiguous thereto,” as a district under the name of Prince Town, “to perpetuate the name and memory of the late Rev. Thomas Prince, colleague pastor of the Old South church in Boston, and a large proprietor of this tract of land.”  The district thus incorporated contained about nineteen thousand acres; but on April 24, 1771, its inhabitants petitioned the General Court, that it, “with all the lands adjoining said District, not included in any other town or District,” be incorporated into a town by the name of Princeton; and by the granting of this petition, the area of the town was increased to twenty-two thousand acres.

The principal citizen of Princeton at this period was the Honorable Moses Gill, who married the daughter of the Reverend Thomas Prince.  He was a man of considerable note in the county also, holding office as one of the judges of the court of common pleas for the county of Worcester, and being “for several years Counsellor of this Commonwealth.”  His country-seat, located at Princeton, was a very extensive estate, comprising nearly three thousand acres.  Mr. Whitney appears to have been personally familiar with this place, and his description of it is so graphic and enthusiastic, that it may be interesting to quote a portion of it.