Block
Boston, Ohio
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Somerset Township. It lies in ZIP code area 43713. The Survey maps it on the Barnesville quadrangle.
Then and now
1905 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Compare 1905 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 sheetsMatched 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.
- 1905 USGS Woodsfield quadrangle1:62500
- 1905 USGS Woodsfield quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Barnesville quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Barnesville quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Barnesville quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Senecaville quadrangle1:100000
- 1980 USGS Senecaville Lake quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
- 1994 USGS Barnesville quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
228,527 words on this townshipCentennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens., published 1903; 1903 Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, published 1903 names this settlement in its chapter on Somerset Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Boston. - AVliile IMordecai Harper was the first land owner in Boston, the first house was built by Joseph McMullen and the second by David AAdiite. The first church built in Boston was what was known as the Disciples' or Christian Church which was erected in 1830. In 1852 a new church was erected. Today the organization is maintained but the congregation is reported small.
Passage source: Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens., published 1903.
The Boston Methodist Episcopal Church. - Before the Boston Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, a little class was formed that met weekly in the homes of the members. The members of this class were: Isaac Taylor and wife, Hugh McMullen and wife,- William McElfresh and wife and the Custer family. Perhaps the first Methodist sermon was preached in the house of Israel Taylor by Rev. Mr. Boyd in 1834.
Passage source: Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens., published 1903.
Among the noted hunters of early days was John Adams, who was a veteran soldier, and fought under General Wayne in the battle of the "Fallen Timbers." His attire was a blue hunting skirt, not unlike that of an army overcoat, and a showy cape fringed with yellow in front and at the bottom. Although a giant in stature, Adams was quick of foot and of herculean strength. After Wayne's treaty of peace, he was hunting upon the banks of Captina where the forest was thick, and came across an Indian who had refused to abandon his wigwam and hunting ground. When this Indian beheld Adams, he immediately concealed himself behind trees and brush with a view evidently oi taking the latter's life. Adams also concealed himself and waited for an advantage. At last when a part of the Indian's body was exposed, Adams took deliberate aim, fired, and the Indian fell. As Adams expressed it, "That was the last time that Indian watched for a white man."
Passage source: 1903 Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, published 1903.
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 Somerset Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.
Fires near this place
10 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Boston between 2015 and 2019, burning about 121 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 burning | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 15276 |
| 5 April 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 725 |
| 3 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 15095 |
| 27 March 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 4.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 4025 |
| 23 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 7467 |
| 22 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 723 |
| 21 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 488 |
| 22 December 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 9825 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 41 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 41 specimens collected within 10 miles of Boston between 1887 and 1975: 31 Animalia, 5 Plantae, 3 Fungi, 2 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by David M. Dennis, Dennis, D. M., Hicks,L.E. 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 | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Blephilia hirsuta (Pursh) Benth. | 1887 | Koenig, A. | near Temperanceville |
| unnamed | 1905 | Laughlin Emma E. | Barnesville | |
 | Merulius incarnatus (S.Ito & S.Imai) Spirin & Zmitr. | 1905 | Laughlin Emma E. | Barnesville |
 | Dryopteris goldiana (Hook. ex Goldie) A.Gray | 1907 | Laughlin, E.E. | Barnesville |
 | Geastrum triplex Jungh. | 1907 | Laughlin Emma E. | Barnesville |
 | Stereum fasciatum (Schwein.) Fr. | 1907 | Laughlin Emma E. | Barnesville |
 | Botrychium dissectum Spreng. | 1919 | Laughlin, E.E. | Barnesville |
 | Colinus virginianus mexicanus (Linnaeus, 1766) | 1935 | Hicks,L.E. | Jerusalem |
 | Cephalozia bicuspidata (L.) Dumort. | 1938 | M. A. Taylor | Long Run. |
 | Sympiesis viridula (Thomson, 1878) | 1938 | W.G. Bradley | |
| Cystopteris fragilis (L.) Bernh. | 1951 | W. Adams & R. Woodruff | Belmont Co., Wayne twp., Sec. 13, County road, 3 miles N of Bealsville, near Raven's Rocks. | |
 | Nerodia sipedon sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1959 | David M. Dennis | 0.5 mi. S Somerton |
All 41 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Boston: 1 plant, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Bituminous, Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mccort Quarry | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Mccort Quarry & Mill | Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Bituminous | Plant |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperanceville | 2.1 miles | 13 | |
| Somerton | 3.4 miles | 13 | |
| Baileys Mills | 4.9 miles | 13 | |
| New Castle | 6.5 miles | 13 | |
| Barnesville | 7.0 miles | 13 | |
| Tacoma | 8.0 miles | 13 | |
| Hunter | 8.5 miles | 13 | |
| Speidel | 9.1 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Boston | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q22133572 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1038206. 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.