BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Ashfield, Massachusetts

32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Ashfield town. It lies in ZIP code area 01330. It stands on Mill Hill. The Survey maps it on the Ashfield quadrangle.

Ashfield within Franklin County

Then and now

1886 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 112 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Ashfield, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet of Ashfield, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

32 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

2 photographs,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

St. John's Episcopal Church, Main Street & Baptist Corner Road, Ashfield, Franklin County, MA
St. John's Episcopal Church, Main Street & Baptist Corner Road, Ashfield, Franklin County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress
Town Hall, Main Street, Ashfield, Franklin County, MA
Town Hall, Main Street, Ashfield, Franklin County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Fires nearby

14 since 2016

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Ashfield between 2016 and 2020, burning about 15 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning12
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
13 June 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 April 2016Debris and open burning4.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 April 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
15 April 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 March 2020Debris and open burning2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 March 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 March 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 March 2019Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Franklin County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,625 shown

Museums hold 1,625 specimens collected within 10 miles of Ashfield between 1822 and 1975: 919 Plantae, 576 Fungi, 109 Animalia, 17 Protozoa, 2 Chromista, 2 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A V Osmun, A., A. Gurney and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Buellia disciformis (Fr.) MuddBuellia disciformis (Fr.) Mudd1900George P. ClintonHammond Pond
Specimen of Cardamine diphylla (Michx.) A.W.WoodCardamine diphylla (Michx.) A.W.Wood1900F. F. Forbes
A photograph of the species Ptilidium pulcherrimum, not of this specimenPtilidium pulcherrimum (Weber) Hampe1822Ebenezer Emmons
A photograph of the species Carex pauciflora, not of this specimenCarex pauciflora Lightf.1825Collector unspecifiedAshfield. [Inferred county from precise loc.]
A photograph of the species Veratrum viride, not of this specimenVeratrum viride subsp. viride1847not recordedBrunswick and Goshen
A photograph of the species Panicum virgatum, not of this specimenPanicum virgatum L.1867R. G. Poland
A photograph of the species Halenia deflexa, not of this specimenHalenia deflexa (Sm.) Griseb.1868Collector(s): Henry Griswold JesupCummington
A photograph of the species Botrychium matricariifolium, not of this specimenBotrychium matricariifolium (Döll) A.Braun ex Koch1873H. G. Jesup
Botrychium virginianum subsp. typicum R.T.Clausen1873Jesup, H.G.Goshen.
A photograph of the species Phegopteris connectilis, not of this specimenPhegopteris connectilis (Michx.) Watt1892B. ShimekCummington.
A photograph of the species Juglans cinerea, not of this specimenJuglans cinerea L.1895C. W. TrowBuckland.
A photograph of the species Botrypus virginianus, not of this specimenBotrypus virginianus (L.) Michx.1896W. W. Bailey

All 1,625 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 12 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Ashfield: 5 occurrences, 4 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Lithium, Limestone, General, Limestone, Dimension, Tin, Lithium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Goshen-Lithia AreaTin, LithiumOccurrence1823
Limestone - Marble QuarryLimestone, GeneralProducer
Limestone - Marble QuarryLimestone, GeneralProducerMarble
Limestone-Marble QuarryLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Limestone-Marble QuarryLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Barrus Property Lithia MineLithiumOccurrence
Barrus Property Lithia MineLithiumOccurrence
Manning Locality Lithia MineLithiumOccurrenceFeldspar
Manning Locality Lithia MineLithiumOccurrence
Taylor Ledge Lithia MineLithiumProducerFeldspar, Quartz

Every working recorded in Franklin County

Storms nearby

25 since 1996

The National Weather Service names Ashfield in 25 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 14 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 flash flood, 3 flood. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2017Tornado (EF1)South Ashfield1 hurt, $400,000The second phase of this tornado touched down at 723 pm EST on Main Poland Road in western Conway Massachusetts. The path width started at 50 yards, with a sharp gradient evident of damage versus no damage. Large sections of forest had thick pine trees snapped at mid-tree. Numerous power lines were downed along the path into downtown Conway. The path width grew, reaching a maximum width of 200 yards near the town hall. Several houses were severely damaged on Whately Road, southeast of the town hall. Roofs were blown off, and in one case the side walls of a house were missing with the interior of the house exposed. On Hill View Road a large barn collapsed. One injury occurred when a tree landed on a house on South Deerfield Road east of town. That was where the visible damage path ended.
August 2011FloodAshfield$75,000After receiving eight to ten inches of rain with Tropical Storm Irene, houses were flooded on Ashfield and River Roads in Buckland. Ashfield Road was flooded with rapidly moving water. Route 112 from Ashfield to Buckland was closed due to flooding. Numerous roads in the area were washed out.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindAshfield$25,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindAshfield$10,000A tree and wires on Apple Valley Road were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindAshfield$10,000Trees on Baptist Corner Road were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindAshfield$5,000In Ashfield, a large tree, utility pole, and wires were down at the intersection of West Road and Steady Lane. A large tree and wires were down along Buckland Road, with one utility pole cross arm knocked down and two other cross arms damaged.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindAshfield$5,000A tree on Conway Road was downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2012Thunderstorm WindAshfield$5,000A tree and wires on Hill Road were downed by thunderstorm winds.
February 2017Thunderstorm WindSouth Ashfield$3,500Tree down on Creamery Road in Ashfield. Tree down on a house on Conway Road in Ashfield. Also trees and wires down on Pfersick Road.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindSouth Ashfield$1,500At 4:31 PM EST, wires and a transformer were down on Conway Road, State Route 116, in Ashfield.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindAshfield$1,500At 115 PM EST, a tree was reported down along State Route 112 in Ashland.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindSouth Ashfield$1,000In Ashfield, a tree a wires were down including a tree on Rt. 116 at Conway Rd.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSouth Ashfield$800In Ashfield, a spotter saw Spotter saw two downed trees on side of County and Williamsburg Roads.
July 2023Flash FloodSouth Ashfield-In Conway, there was significant street flooding on Main Poland rd.
July 2023FloodSouth Ashfield-In Ashfield, Conway Rd was flooded.
July 2023Flash FloodSouth Ashfield-In Conway, North Poland Rd at Rt 116 was flooded up to doors of cars.
June 2018HailAshfield-At 4:19 PM EST, hail up to quarter-size fell on Hawley Road in Ashfield.
May 2013HailAshfield-The Cooperative Observer in Ashfield, MA reported a large amount of hail fell. Most of it was three-eighths of an inch in diameter, but a few were as large as three-quarters of an inch.
August 2011FloodSouth Ashfield-After receiving nearly ten inches of rain with Tropical Storm Irene, local brooks flowed over North Poland Road in Conway.
May 2001HailAshfield-no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindAshfield-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindAshfield-no account filed
June 1998HailAshfield-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindAshfield-no account filed
June 1996Flash FloodAshfield-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Franklin County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Beldingville1.3 miles32
South Ashfield1.3 miles32
Baptist Corner2.2 miles32
Buckland Four Corners2.8 miles32
Spruce Corner3.5 miles32
Watson3.7 miles32
Shirkshire3.7 miles34
Burkville4.3 miles34

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 608129. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.