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

Cheshire, Massachusetts

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Cheshire town. It lies in ZIP code area 01225. It stands on Cheshire Cemetery. The Survey maps it on the Cheshire quadrangle.

Cheshire within Berkshire County

Then and now

1886 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 112 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Cheshire, surveyed 1998

Topographic sheet of Cheshire, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

40 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.

Fires nearby

17 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Cheshire between 2015 and 2018, burning about 8 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 burning	7
Recreation and ceremony	3
Equipment and vehicle use	3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	2
Smoking	1
Natural	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
28 July 2018	Natural	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
14 June 2016	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
13 June 2015	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
25 May 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
22 April 2018	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
21 April 2018	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
16 April 2016	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
16 April 2016	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Berkshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,006 shown

Museums hold 1,006 specimens collected within 10 miles of Cheshire between 1828 and 1975: 530 Plantae, 235 Animalia, 232 Fungi, 7 Unrecorded, 2 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A K Harrison, A Schwartz, A. H. Gustafson 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.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Antennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Richardson, 1823	1898	J. R. Churchill
Bombus ternarius Say, 1837	1898	[Not Stated]	Hinsdale
Carex pensylvanica Lam.	1898	J. R. Churchill
Fraxinus americana L.	1828	J. Torrey
Jamesoniella autumnalis (DC.) Steph.	1828	Ebenezer Emmons
Persicaria amphibia (L.) Delarbre	1835	C. A. Shurtleff	Pittsfield
Scorzoneroides autumnalis (L.) Moench	1850	not recorded
Spiraea tomentosa L.	1850	not recorded
Vicia cracca subsp. cracca	1852	C. A. Walters
Coptis trifolia (L.) Salisb.	1855	Smer	Williamstown Map - Mt. Greylock
Solidago patula Muhl. ex Willd.	1858	Brewer; Chickering
Carex aestivalis M.A.Curtis ex A.Gray	1865	not recorded

All 1,006 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 15 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Cheshire: 10 past producers, 3 producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
United States Gypsum Co Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
United States Gypsum Company Marble Quarry	Limestone, General	Producer	Stratabound
Cheshire Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Cheshire Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Cheshire Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Frank Bushika Sand and Gravel	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Horn Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Hutchinson Sand and Gravel Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Bennett Prospect	Iron	Occurrence	Limonite
Bennett Prospect	Iron	Past Producer	Residual

Every working recorded in Berkshire County

Storms nearby

25 since 1997

The National Weather Service names Cheshire in 25 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 20 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 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
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	$28,000	no account filed
June 2000	Flash Flood	Cheshire	$14,000	no account filed
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	$13,000	no account filed
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	$10,000	no account filed
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	$7,000	no account filed
August 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	$2,000	no account filed
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Local law enforcement reported several trees down in the town of Cheshire.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	A tree was downed onto wires on Outlook Avenue.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Trees and wires were downed in the Town of Cheshire.
December 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	There were multiple reports of trees and wires downed in the Town of Cheshire, one on Lanesboro Road and another on Prospect Street.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Downed tree.
January 2018	Flash Flood	Cheshire	-	An ice jam broke loose along Kitchen Brook, which overflowed its banks and covered a section of Route 8 with large chunks of ice. Flood waters flowed into a nearby parking lot, covering it in around a foot of water. Route 8 remained closed for around an hour.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Trees and wires were downed on Main Street in Cheshire due to thunderstorm winds.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Numerous trees were downed along the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail in Cheshire. The trees were downed along the trail between the Cheshire Reservoir and East Main Street. Several of the trees that fell nearly hit a person walking along the trail.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Trees and wires were downed on Mill Hill Road and Meadowbrook Lane in Cheshire due to thunderstorm winds.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Trees, power poles and wires were downed on East Main Street in Cheshire due to thunderstorm winds. The road was temporarily closed due to the downed trees and wires. A garage was damaged by the downed trees and one of the trees also fell on a home as well.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	A tree was downed and blocking Route 8 in Cheshire as a result of thunderstorm winds.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Trees were reported down and on a house due to thunderstorm winds in Cheshire.
March 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	A tree, along with wires were reported down in Cheshire at 2007 EST due to strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2008	Hail	Cheshire	-	Penny size hail was reported near Cheshire during a thunderstorm.
July 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Trees were reported down in Cheshire due to strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	A trained spotter reported that trees were blown down in Cheshire.
July 2004	Hail	Cheshire	-	Hail did not cover ground.
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Cheshire	-	Trees and wires down on Ingalls Road.
December 2000	Flash Flood	Cheshire	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Berkshire 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Town Crest Village	1.3 miles	40
Farnams	1.8 miles	40
Arnoldville	2.4 miles	40
Cheshire Harbor	2.5 miles	40
Camp Mohawk	2.8 miles	40
Greylock Estates	3.7 miles	40
Berkshire	3.8 miles	40
Maple Grove	4.1 miles	40

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 607347. 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.