In the 1920s, a trail was blazed from Mount Watatic to Mount Wachusett, but it fell into disuse. In 1972, the Worcester County Commissioners proposed a trail that would recreate the abandoned route and extend the trail through the length of Worcester County. The trail was created primarily through the efforts of local volunteers. The Appalachian Mountain Club was heavily involved in the process and remains involved today. A summit hotel on Mount Wachusett, which operated in the 19th and early 20th centuries (eventually succumbing to fire and dynamic changes in tourism), encouraged trail building on the mountain well before the Midstate Trail was created. The Midstate Trail incorporated some of these footways into its route. Other sections of the trail route follow old town roads and farm roads abandoned during the agrarian shift to the midwestern United States in the late 19th century.