BlockBridgewater Center, Ohio
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Bridgewater Township. It lies in ZIP code area 43543. The Survey maps it on the Nettle Lake quadrangle.
Then and now
1914 to 1990The same ground, surveyed 76 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 14 printed 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.
- 1914 USGS Pioneer quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1944 USGS Pioneer quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Fort Wayne quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Fort Wayne quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Nettle Lake quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Adrian quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Adrian quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
2,442 words on this townshipThe County of Williams : a History of Williams County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on Various Subjects, Including Each of the Different Townships ; Also a Biographical Department, published 1905 names this settlement in its chapter on Bridgewater Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Thomas E. Whitney was born in New York City, December 25, 1844, and while yet in his boyhood came with his parents to Akron, Ohio. Here the father died within a few years and the family becoming separated, Thomas E. came to Bridgewater township. Having received a very fair common school education, and possessing a good share of energy, he pushed his way through the world with reasonable success. During the Civil war he enlisted in Hoffman's battalion, doing garrison duty on Johnson's Island, and received his discharge, July 18, 1865. Two or three years later, he bought thirty acres of land, lying partly in Bridgewater township and partly on the other side of the Michigan line, and farmed until 1869, when he engaged in general merchandising. In 1882 he entered in the lumber business, at which he was profitably engaged for several years prior to his death. Dr. W. D. Stout was the first physician in the township, and he opened an office at Bridgewater Center with the inception of the town. Dr. Weldon was another of the earlier physicians, coming a little later than Dr. Stout. The village now has a population of several families, with a store, good school and churches.
Passage source: The County of Williams : a History of Williams County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on Various Subjects, Including Each of the Different Townships ; Also a Biographical Department, published 1905.
Bridgewater township was prolific in early industries, there being a number of saw-mills and grist-mills, constructed and operated at different times from the first settlement, according to the needs of the various communities which they served. These, for the most part were of brief existence, and, in fact, most of them were quickly and cheaply built with no idea of permanence, beyond the demands of the day. Among others was a steam saw-mill, built about 1870, in the western part of the township, at "Fuddletown." Messrs. Babcock & Strong, about the same time, put in machinery for the manufacture of wooden-ware, and the two industries were operated for a few years when they were abandoned. Riley W. Parker, Benjamin B. Van Court and Richard Wittington, all early settlers, built a saw-mill in 1844, to which was added in a short time a small set of "nigger-head" buhrs, which rude grist mill was in operation for about eight years. These mills were located on the St. Joseph river, at Bridgewater Center, but the machinery was too crude to compete with other and later inventions, and after a precarious existence of perhaps twenty years the whole enterprise was abandoned. In about the year 1848, Elias Depew erected a very large, three-storied frame grist mill in the southeastern part of the township, on the St. Joseph river. A saw mill was built near it, but after being operated some twelve or fourteen years, both mills were destroyed by fire under somewhat suspicious circumstances.
Passage source: The County of Williams : a History of Williams County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on Various Subjects, Including Each of the Different Townships ; Also a Biographical Department, published 1905.
Miss Mary McCrillis taught a school in the building on Anson Smith's farm during the summer of 1841. A Miss Heritage was another early teacher. The log house in which the first term was taught was used for about three years, when a hewed log school house was erected in the vicinity. About the time this house was built another was erected, one mile south of Bridgewater Center. A log school house was built in the southwestern part of the township, as early as 1843, and was located on James Allman's farm, and this house was used some twelve or fifteen years. A log school building was built in the Sumner neighborhood, in the northern part, about the year 1843, an<E about 1845, a house of the same description was erected in the McCarty district, in the northeastern part. These were the pioneer schools, from which has grown a most complete educational system, with eleven modern school houses, located at convenient distances from all of the pupils.
Passage source: The County of Williams : a History of Williams County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on Various Subjects, Including Each of the Different Townships ; Also a Biographical Department, published 1905.
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 Bridgewater Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.
Fires near this place
1 since 2019Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Bridgewater Center in 2019, burning about 1 acre 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WRIGHT-WALDRON FIRE & AMBULANCE 0000138 - 2019 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 277 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 277 specimens collected within 10 miles of Bridgewater Center between 1895 and 1972: 274 Animalia, 2 Plantae, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by Adler, K. K., Barnes, T. N., Bauer, L. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | unnamed | 1897 | F. L. Stevens | Columbia. |
 | Gomphus exilis Selys, 1854 | 1946 | H. Price | Nettle Creek near Nettle Lake |
 | Gomphus lividus Selys, 1854 | 1946 | H. Price | Nettle Creek, at ripples near Nettle Lake |
 | Aspidium Sw. | 1895 | Collector(s): Edwin Lincoln Moseley | Florence |
 | Sciurus niger Linnaeus, 1758 | 1926 | Collector(s): unknown | No specific locality recorded |
 | Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 | 1927 | Price, H. (Homer) | Evansport, Williams, Ohio, USA |
 | Catostomus commersonii (Lacepède, 1803) | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) | Nettle Creek, at inlet to Nettle Lake in Northwest township, 4.7 mi S of Camden, Northwest township |
 | Chaenobryttus gulosus (Cuvier, 1829) | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) | Nettle Lake, Northwest township, ~5.4 mi SE of Camden, Northwest township |
 | Erimyzon sucetta kennerlii (Girard, 1856) | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) | Nettle Lake, Northwest township, ~5.4 mi SE of Camden, Northwest township |
 | Esox vermiculatus Lesueur, 1846 | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) | Nettle Lake, Northwest township, ~5.4 mi SE of Camden, Northwest township |
 | Etheostoma microperca Jordan & Gilbert, 1888 | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) | Nettle Lake, Northwest township, ~5.4 mi SE of Camden, Northwest township |
 | Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque, 1820 | 1929 | MB Trautman | Nettle Lake, northern northwest township |
All 277 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 Bridgewater Center: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneer Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Tri-State Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2019Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bridgewater Center in 5 storm reports between 2019 and 2024: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgewater Center | $5,000 | Trees down in the area of Bridgewater Center. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgewater Center | $5,000 | Tree limbs were down on US 20, west of Pioneer. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgewater Center | $1,000 | Trees damaged in the area of CR 11 and Road S. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Bridgewater Center | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridgewater Center | - | A trained spotter reported a large tree branch was blown down at the intersection of CR 10 and R. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Seneca | 1.1 miles | 14 | |
| Greyhound | 1.4 miles | 14 | |
| Jim Town | 1.8 miles | 14 | |
| Ainger | 3.1 miles | 14 | |
| Deer Lick (historical) | 4.1 miles | 13 | |
| Pioneer | 4.4 miles | 14 | |
| West Woodly Addition | 4.9 miles | 13 | |
| Nettle Lake | 5.1 miles | 14 |
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 Bridgewater Center | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q22133592 | 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 1064488. 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.