BlockBefore

Byfield, Massachusetts

47 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Newbury town. It lies in ZIP code area 01922. It stands on Wheeler Brook. The Survey maps it on the Newburyport West quadrangle.

Byfield within Essex County

Then and now

1888 to 1987

The same ground, surveyed 99 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Byfield, surveyed 1987
Topographic sheet of Byfield, surveyed 1888

Topographic sheets covering this place

21 surveys from 47 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

2,678 words on this township

Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts, published 1922 names this settlement in its chapter on Newbury Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Saw-mills, fulling-mills and flour-mills made up the list of early industries in Newbury; next came the period of tan-yards and ropewalks. After the incorporation of Newburyport and West Newbury, the old industries mostly died out, with a few exceptions ; for instance, the ship-building industry, which was transferred to the newly-formed municipalities. In 1794 the first incorporated woolen mill in the State was the factory of Guppy & Armstrong, of Newburyport. Besides the large woolen mills on the river, there were two snuff-mills; near the railroad station was a shoe factory at Byfield, carried on by J. 0. Rogers, with a product of a thousand cases per year.

Passage source: Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts, published 1922.

The annals of this town should not fail to give a brief account of at least one individual whose inventive genius has in his career revolutionized many an industry. We refer to Paul Pillsbury, who resided at the old Pillsbury estate at Byfield. Among other articles invented by this gentleman may be named the universally used shoe-peg, which revolutionized the shoe-maker's trade, for prior to that date all work about shoe soles had been accomplished by sewing. He also invented and placed on the market a machine to manufacture shoe-pegs, instead of making by hand as at first. He also made shuttles for the cotton factories. His first invention was a corn-sheller, for which he received a Letters Patent in 1803, this being the first attempt at shelling corn in any other manner than by hand-work. In 1808 he obtained a patent on a bark-mill, the foundation of all types of small mills such as paintmills, coffee-mills, spice-mills, etc., now in use the world over. The old way of treating bark for tanning vats had hitherto been accompUshed by rolling it with a grindstone of huge proportions, the same usually being run by a horse. Other inventions of Mr. Pillsbury included a rotary fire-engine, a seed-sower, churn, a gold-washer and sifter, coffee roaster, coffee-mill, window fastener, bee-hive and other useful articles. It is believed that this inventive genius was from the same family of Pillsbury stock from which descended the Minneapohs Pillsbury family - the great flour-making men and politicians of thp West.

Passage source: Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts, published 1922.

To those interested in the church history of this town and its environments, it may be stated that among the various ministers who held a prominent paii; in the settlement and eventual development of the country, these were included: Rev. Richard Brown, First Parish; Rev. Moses Hale of the Byfield Parish ; Rev. Toppan ; Rev. Oliver Noble of the Fifth Parish; Rev. Isaac Smith, of Boston; Rev. Elijah Parish and Rev. Moses Parsons, and others whose names have been missed with the flight of time.

Passage source: Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts, published 1922.

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 Newbury Town - it names this place 2 more 2 times.

Fires near this place

78 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 78 fires within 5 miles of Byfield between 2015 and 2020, burning about 32 acres in total. None started naturally. 12 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
Debris and open burning23
Equipment and vehicle use13
Arson/incendiarism12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Recreation and ceremony6
Misuse of fire by a minor5
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Smoking2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Fireworks1

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 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlGROVELAND
23 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 August 2016Debris and open burning1.5 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlGROVELAND
5 August 2016Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlGROVELAND
5 August 2016Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWEST NEWBURY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 2,768 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,768 specimens collected within 10 miles of Byfield between 1800 and 1975: 1,511 Plantae, 945 Animalia, 244 Fungi, 51 Chromista, 8 Protozoa, 7 Unrecorded, 2 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A A Eaton, A Brown, A. A. Eaton 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 Hypnum curvifolium Hedw.Hypnum curvifolium Hedw.1900John W. Huntington
Specimen of Plagiotheciella latebricola (Schimp.) M.Fleisch.Plagiotheciella latebricola (Schimp.) M.Fleisch.1900John W. Huntington
A photograph of the species Rhodobryum roseum, not of this specimenRhodobryum roseum (Hedw.) Limpr.1800J. W. HuntingtonAmesbury
A photograph of the species Diphyscium foliosum, not of this specimenDiphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr1822ALCOTT
A photograph of the species Arcyria oerstedii, not of this specimenArcyria oerstedii Rostaf., 18751826F. A. Gilbert
A photograph of the species Dichelyma capillaceum, not of this specimenDichelyma capillaceum (Dicks.) Myrin1833J. W. Huntington
A photograph of the species Dumetella carolinensis, not of this specimenDumetella carolinensis (Linnaeus, 1766)1833J.S. AppletonWest Newbury
A photograph of the species Glyceria obtusa, not of this specimenGlyceria obtusa (Muhl.) Trin.1838W Oakes
A photograph of the species Clethra alnifolia, not of this specimenClethra alnifolia L.1840OakesHerbariumRowley
A photograph of the species Euphorbia polygonifolia, not of this specimenEuphorbia polygonifolia L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich
A photograph of the species Iva frutescens, not of this specimenIva frutescens L.1840Oakesad Ipswich
A photograph of the species Potentilla anserina, not of this specimenPotentilla anserina L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich

All 2,768 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Byfield: 11 past producers, 3 producers, 1 plant. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Lead, Silver. 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
Chipman MineLead, Zinc, Copper, Gold, SilverPast Producer
Georgetown MineIronPast Producer
Newburyport Pb-A?^IctLead, SilverPast Producer
Groveland PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Trimount Bituminous Prdts CoStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Center Street PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
East Broadway PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Haverhill Sand CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Haverhill Sand Company PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Mavrofrides BrothersSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms near this place

4 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Byfield in 4 storm reports between 1996 and 2019: 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud. 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 2011Thunderstorm WindByfield$3,000A tree was downed by thunderstorm winds, blocking a road.
August 2019Funnel CloudByfield-A funnel cloud was reported by a trained spotter in West Newbury.
October 1996Flash FloodByfield-no account filed
October 1996Flash FloodByfield-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Essex 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
South Byfield2.5 miles41
Leightons Corner2.6 miles41
Glen Mills2.9 miles41
Marlboro3.3 miles41
Georgetown3.3 miles41
Knights Crossing3.3 miles47
Doles Corner3.3 miles41
West Newbury3.6 miles47

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 614210. 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.