BlockBefore

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.

Boston within Belmont County

Then and now

1905 to 1994

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Boston, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Boston, surveyed 1905

Compare 1905 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 13 printed 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

2,005 words on this township

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.

Boston was formerly connected with the Alorristown circuit and subsequently the Barnesville and Somerton circuits. Some of the ministers who have served the congregation are: Revs. AAIorthington, Hamilton, Taylor, AA^olf, Best, Coen, Edmunds, Lane, Mc- Cue, McCormick, Ellison, Vertican, Ingram, Weaver and Robb. The present pastor is P. U. Hawkins, and the membership numbers 30. When the old frame meeting house was removed and the new brick structure erected, the membership numbered 88.

Passage source: 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 3 more 3 times.

Fires near this place

19 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Boston between 2013 and 2019, burning about 128 acres in total. 1 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Natural1
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
24 September 2019Debris and open burning3.0 acresOhio Department of Natural Resources15276
3 May 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2015Power generation/transmission/distribution7.0 acresOhio Department of Natural Resources725
3 April 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined100 acresOhio Department of Natural Resources15095
26 April 2016Naturalunder an acreOhio Department of Natural Resources4846
14 April 2017Debris and open burning1.0 acresOhio Department of Natural Resources8265
27 March 2016Recreation and ceremony4.0 acresOhio Department of Natural Resources4025
27 March 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Belmont County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 41 shown

Regional 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 SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Blephilia hirsuta, not of this specimenBlephilia hirsuta (Pursh) Benth.1887Koenig, A.near Temperanceville
unnamed1905Laughlin Emma E.Barnesville
A photograph of the species Merulius incarnatus, not of this specimenMerulius incarnatus (S.Ito & S.Imai) Spirin & Zmitr.1905Laughlin Emma E.Barnesville
A photograph of the species Dryopteris goldiana, not of this specimenDryopteris goldiana (Hook. ex Goldie) A.Gray1907Laughlin, E.E.Barnesville
A photograph of the species Geastrum triplex, not of this specimenGeastrum triplex Jungh.1907Laughlin Emma E.Barnesville
A photograph of the species Stereum fasciatum, not of this specimenStereum fasciatum (Schwein.) Fr.1907Laughlin Emma E.Barnesville
A photograph of the species Botrychium dissectum, not of this specimenBotrychium dissectum Spreng.1919Laughlin, E.E.Barnesville
A photograph of the species Colinus virginianus, not of this specimenColinus virginianus mexicanus (Linnaeus, 1766)1935Hicks,L.E.Jerusalem
A photograph of the species Cephalozia bicuspidata, not of this specimenCephalozia bicuspidata (L.) Dumort.1938M. A. TaylorLong Run.
A photograph of the species Sympiesis viridula, not of this specimenSympiesis viridula (Thomson, 1878)1938W.G. Bradley
Cystopteris fragilis (L.) Bernh.1951W. Adams & R. WoodruffBelmont Co., Wayne twp., Sec. 13, County road, 3 miles N of Bealsville, near Raven's Rocks.
A photograph of the species Nerodia sipedon, not of this specimenNerodia sipedon sipedon (Linnaeus, 1758)1959David M. Dennis0.5 mi. S Somerton

All 41 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Boston: 2 past producers, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Glass Rock QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast ProducerSedimentary
Mccort QuarryLimestone, GeneralPast ProducerSedimentary
Mccort Quarry & MillClay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, BituminousPlant

Every working recorded in Belmont 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
Temperanceville2.1 miles13
Somerton3.4 miles13
Baileys Mills4.9 miles13
New Castle6.5 miles13
Barnesville7.0 miles13
Tacoma8.0 miles13
Hunter8.5 miles13
Speidel9.1 miles12

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 BostonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q22133572The 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.