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

Becket, Massachusetts

37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Becket town. It lies in ZIP code area 01223. It stands on Yokum Brook. The Survey maps it on the Becket quadrangle.

Becket within Berkshire County

Then and now

1886 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 111 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Becket, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Becket, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

37 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

1 photograph,

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.

Whistler Bridge No. 5, Becket, Berkshire County, MA
Whistler Bridge No. 5, Becket, Berkshire County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Fires nearby

9 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Becket between 2015 and 2018, burning about 32 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 burning5
Recreation and ceremony1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Smoking1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
29 July 2017Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 June 2018Smoking2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 May 2015Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
20 April 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
13 April 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 March 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined18 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
13 March 2016Debris and open burning3.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
12 March 2016Debris and open burning5.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Berkshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,785 shown

Museums hold 1,785 specimens collected within 10 miles of Becket between 1834 and 1975: 1,229 Animalia, 393 Plantae, 162 Fungi, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. E. Treat, A. K. Harrison, A. M. Vail 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 Bombus ternarius Say, 1837Bombus ternarius Say, 18371898[Not Stated]Hinsdale
A photograph of the species Parnassia caroliniana, not of this specimenParnassia caroliniana Michx.1834not recorded
A photograph of the species Homalia trichomanoides, not of this specimenHomalia trichomanoides (Hedw.) Schimp.1867E. C. Howe
A photograph of the species Lygodium palmatum, not of this specimenLygodium palmatum (Bernh.) Sw.1872Miller, E.S.East Hampton
A photograph of the species Warnstorfia fluitans, not of this specimenWarnstorfia fluitans (Hedw.) Loeske1876Piper
A photograph of the species Leucobryum glaucum, not of this specimenLeucobryum glaucum (Hedw.) Ångstr.1877H. J. BiddlecomeChester
A photograph of the species Botrychium angustisegmentum, not of this specimenBotrychium angustisegmentum (Pease & A.H.Moore) Fernald1879not recorded
Botrychium virginianum subsp. typicum R.T.Clausen1884Spencer, M.F.Tyringham. In silvaticis.
A photograph of the species Diphasiastrum verecundum, not of this specimenDiphasiastrum × verecundum A.V.Gilman1884Spencer, M.F.Tyringham.
unnamed1889A.B. Seymour
A photograph of the species Acer saccharum, not of this specimenAcer saccharum Marshall1897Vail, A.M.Tyringham
A photograph of the species Acer spicatum, not of this specimenAcer spicatum Lam.1897Vail, A.M.Vicinity of Tyringham

All 1,785 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

2 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Becket: 1 occurrence, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Emery, Iron, Chromium. 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
Chrome-Magnetite MineEmeryOccurrenceEmery
Chrome-Magnetite MineIron, ChromiumPast Producer

Every working recorded in Berkshire County

Storms nearby

21 since 2001

The National Weather Service names Becket in 21 storm reports between 2001 and 2023: 12 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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
July 2023FloodBecket$30,000Benton Hill Road was closed due to a wash out in the Town of Becket.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindBecket$8,000no account filed
June 2003Flash FloodBecket$1,000no account filed
May 2022Thunderstorm WindBecket-Law enforcement reported a downed tree in Becket.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindBecket-Trees were reported down on Mcnerney Road.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBecket-Trees were downed.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindBecket-Several large trees were downed along Route 8.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindBecket-A tree was downed on Yokum Pond Road in the Town of Becket.
July 2021Flash FloodBecket-Law enforcement reported Leonhart Road in Becket flooded.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindBecket-A tree was downed in the town of Beckett.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindWest Becket-A tree was reported down on the Becket-Lee Town Line on Route 20 due to thunderstorm winds.
September 2012Thunderstorm WindBecket-Trees were reported down due to thunderstorm winds in Becket.
June 2011HailBecket-Quarter size hail (measured) was reported during a thunderstorm in Becket.
June 2011HailBecket-Ping-pong ball size hail was reported during a thunderstorm in Becket.
July 2008HailBecket-Quarter size hail was reported on Route 8 in Becket during a thunderstorm.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindBecket-Trees and wires were reported down in Becket as a result of strong thunderstorm winds.
September 2008HailBecket-Nickel to quarter size hail fell along Route 20 in Becket during a thunderstorm.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindBecket-Several large trees blown down.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindBecket-Several large tree limbs down in North Becket.
June 2003Flash FloodBecket-no account filed
June 2001HailWest Becket-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Berkshire 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
Camp Greylock2.3 miles37
Camp Becket2.8 miles37
Washington2.9 miles37
Becket Center3.5 miles37
Camp Chimney Corners3.6 miles37
Bonny Rigg Corners5.0 miles37
West Becket5.4 miles38
Indian Lake Estates5.4 miles37

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 608008. 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.