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

Bemis, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Watertown City. It lies in ZIP code area 02472. It stands on Cheese Cake Brook. The Survey maps it on the Newton quadrangle.

Bemis within Middlesex County

Then and now

1893 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Bemis, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Bemis, surveyed 1893

Topographic sheets covering this place

46 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.

In the county-history sources

70,495 words on this township

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Watertown City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Ecclesiastical. - Tlie first work of the settlers after providing for themselves a temporary shelter was to combine into church fellowship. On account of the great sickness and mortality prevailing in Ciiarlestown, July 30, 1630, was observed throughout the colony as a day of fasting and prayer. After the close of these exercises at Watertown, as we are told by R«v. Cotton Mather, "about forty men, whereof the first was that excellent Knight, Sir Richard Saltonstall, then subscribed this instrument (a church covenant), in order unto their coalescence into a church estate," and its date, coeval with that of the organization of the Boston church at Ciiarlestown, entitles the Watertown church to rank next after those of Salem and Dorchester.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

It is probable that the first mill in Watertowti was built in 1634 by Edward How. It was a grist-mill, on Mill Creek, a canal partly or wholly artificial, leaving the river at Ihe head of the falls, where a stone dam was afterward made across the river. During Philip's War the mill was intrusted to the guard of Richard Sanger, his two sons, and three others. In 1780 Daniel Jackson had a saw-mill here. In 179.') ]\Iessrs. G. and F. Williams had a paper-mill heiv, the same afterwards known as .\nnis', and latterly as llollingsworlh and Whitney's. A fulling-mill on iieaver linnik, supposed to have been where Kendall's Mills now are, was the next mill built here. In 1(')70 a corn-mill was set up on Stony Brook. About 1760 David Bemis built a mill about a mile above the old one, and another was built by John Boies where the Waltham factories liave since been built. Since the ojjening of the century a number have been erected, absorbing a large amount of capital, and giving employment to numerous families.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

In 1778 the dam at Bemis' Station, where the Etna Mills now are, about one mile above the old mill, was built by David Bemis and Dr. Enos Sumner. Bemis owned two thirds of a paper-mill on the Newton side, built in 1779, and before 1790 also carried on a grist-mill and snuff-mill on the Watertown side, - the first mill at that point. His son Seth became sole proprietor about 1796, and in 1803 began to spin cotton by machinery, a business that proved exceedingly profitable. Cotton sail-duck, for which a twisting-machine of forty-eight spindles was constructed, was first made here in 1809. In 1816 the introduction of the power-loom and other improvements reduced the price of duck one half. Afterwards, in connection with his son, Seth, Jr., and until he gave up business in 18-"36, he made mis the leading factory in the country for grinding and preparing dyestuffs.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Watertown City - it names this place 21 more 21 times.

Fires near this place

65 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 65 fires within 5 miles of Bemis between 2015 and 2020, burning about 30 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were 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
Recreation and ceremony25
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Debris and open burning9
Smoking3
Arson/incendiarism3
Equipment and vehicle use1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
8 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
3 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
23 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWELLESLEY
21 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
2 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROOKLINE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 2,431 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,431 specimens collected within 10 miles of Bemis between 1898 and 1975: 1,222 Animalia, 662 Plantae, 478 Fungi, 29 Protozoa, 17 Bacteria, 14 Chromista, 9 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A. B. Seymour 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 Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 18221900not recordedWayland
Specimen of Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Antennaria howellii, not of this specimenAntennaria howellii subsp. canadensis (Greene) R.J.Bayer1898Williams, E.F.
A photograph of the species Antennaria parlinii, not of this specimenAntennaria parlinii subsp. fallax (Greene) R.J.Bayer & Stebbins1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Antennaria plantaginifolia, not of this specimenAntennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Hook.1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Aquilegia canadensis, not of this specimenAquilegia canadensis L.1898M. I. GunnNatick
A photograph of the species Acanthis flammea, not of this specimenAcanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus, 1758)1900ZAPPEY, W RROSLINDALE
A photograph of the species Acer carpinifolium, not of this specimenAcer carpinifolium Siebold & Zucc.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Acer palmatum, not of this specimenAcer palmatum var. dissectum (Thunb.) Miq.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Agaricus brunnescens, not of this specimenAgaricus brunnescens Peck1900Morris, G. E.Waltham
A photograph of the species Alnus incana, not of this specimenAlnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen1900J. Murdoch, Jr.Roxbury

All 2,431 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Bemis: 4 past producers, 1 producer, 1 plant. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium). 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
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)Plant
Massachusetts Broken Stone CoStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Weston MineStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Burton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of WellesleySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Town of WellesleySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Middlesex 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
North Village0.4 miles46
Nonantum0.4 miles46
Newton Corner0.7 miles46
Clematis Brook Station1.0 miles46
Watertown1.1 miles46
Beaver Brook Station1.1 miles46
Newtonville1.3 miles46
Cedar Hill Camp1.7 miles46

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612293. 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.