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

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Newton City. It lies in ZIP code area 02467. It stands on Chestnut Hill. The Survey maps it on the Newton quadrangle.

Chestnut Hill within Middlesex County

Then and now

1893 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Chestnut Hill, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Chestnut Hill, surveyed 1893

Topographic sheets covering this place

46 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.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Newton city, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 - Newton City

Newton

JbIj^ 1700, M. 63. Capt. Noab, of Newton, an Officer in the Expedition against Canada. Killed in battle with the Freoch and Indians July C, 1C90. M. 50, leaving t son Thomas. Ebeneser, oC Newton, died June 21, 1691. .fi. 45. ... . . J. B. Jepson, Newton Comer, rereals many gravestones whose inscriptions are no longer l^ble, and others, recalling the names which filled a laige place in the early history of the town, and Belonged to the founders of its institutions and the authors of its prosperity.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

124,955 words on this township

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Newton City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

James Prentice married Susanna, the daughter of Captain Edward Johnson, of Woburn, and had one son, James, and five daughters. Captain Johnson, by his will, dated 1672, gave his grandson, James Prentice, £15, and also made a small bequest to Susanna and Hannah Prentice, daughters of his son-ill-law, James Prentice. He was selectman in 1691, and died Marcli 7, 1710, aged eighty-one. His son James, who was his administrator, sold out his share in his father's estate for £60, in 1711, to his five sisters, "all single women," and probably left the town.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

As the times grew more threatening, the selectmen were authorized to procure fire-arms for those who were too poor to furnish them. John Pigeon gave the town two field-pieces, which were accepted by the town with thanks, and a vote was passed, January 2, 1775, to raise a company of thirty -two minute-men, who were to meet half a day every week through the winter for drill, and every man was to be paid for his time the sum of eightpence, or, as afterwards stated, one shilling, and the eight ofGcers eight shillings per day " over and above i the shilling each."

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

In the autumn of 171-0 'Rev. George Wliitetield preached in Newton and the vicinity, and a general interest in religion attended his ministry. From his labors sprang a movement which resulted in the formation in several towns of Separate, or New Light churches, so called. A church of this name was organized in Newton. They held their assemblies at the house of one of their members, IMr. Nathan Ward, who became tlieir pastor. Most of the members afterwards adopted the views of the Baptists, and formed the nucleus of the First Baptist Church. They held their meetings at first in dwelling-houses, and afterwards in a school-house, the worshijD being conducted by Deacon Jonathan Richardson and Mr. John Dana, and occasionally by visiting ministers. They continued their worship in this manner nearly twenty years. In the spring of 1780 Mr. Elhanan Winchester, who afterwards embraced and preached the doctrine of universal restoration, visited Newton, he being then a Baptist, and several persons received baptism at his hands, who were embodied into the church July 5, 1780, as before stated, by jjublic ceremonies, probably in a room in the house of Noah Wiswall, since the home of the heirs of Deacon Luther Paul. The first pastor was the Rev. Caleb Blood, who continued to serve the church till January 24, 1788. When he became pastor the number of members was seventy-three ; at his dismission, ninety-two ; number of admissions, nineteen.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

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 Newton City - it names this place 8 more 8 times.

Fires near this place

87 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 87 fires within 5 miles of Chestnut Hill between 2003 and 2020, burning about 380 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Recreation and ceremony48
Missing data/not specified/undetermined28
Smoking6
Debris and open burning2
Other causes1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Arson/incendiarism1

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 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
3 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
23 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWELLESLEY
21 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 2,609 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,609 specimens collected within 10 miles of Chestnut Hill between 1898 and 1975: 1,269 Animalia, 728 Plantae, 549 Fungi, 29 Protozoa, 17 Bacteria, 13 Chromista, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A. B. Seymour 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 Lysimachia × producta (A.Gray) FernaldLysimachia × producta (A.Gray) Fernald1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Antennaria howellii, not of this specimenAntennaria howellii subsp. canadensis (Greene) R.J.Bayer1898Williams, E.F.
A photograph of the species Antennaria parlinii, not of this specimenAntennaria parlinii subsp. fallax (Greene) R.J.Bayer & Stebbins1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Antennaria plantaginifolia, not of this specimenAntennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Hook.1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Aquilegia canadensis, not of this specimenAquilegia canadensis L.1898M. I. GunnNatick
A photograph of the species Acanthis flammea, not of this specimenAcanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus, 1758)1900ZAPPEY, W RROSLINDALE
A photograph of the species Acer carpinifolium, not of this specimenAcer carpinifolium Siebold & Zucc.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Acer palmatum, not of this specimenAcer palmatum var. dissectum (Thunb.) Miq.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Agaricus brunnescens, not of this specimenAgaricus brunnescens Peck1900Morris, G. E.Waltham
A photograph of the species Alnus incana, not of this specimenAlnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen1900J. Murdoch, Jr.Roxbury
A photograph of the species Alnus serrulata, not of this specimenAlnus serrulata (Aiton) Willd.1900J. Murdoch, Jr.West Roxbury

All 2,609 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Chestnut Hill: 5 past producers, 4 plants, 1 unknown. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Lead. 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
(Facility) Cambridge Smelter CoLeadPlant
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)Plant
West Roxbury Crushed Stone OperatioStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Industrial Serv. Centers--CambridgeIronPlant
Wheelock-Lovejoy--Cambridge, Ma.IronPlant
C. J. MabardySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Greendale PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of NeedhamSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Town of WellesleySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Town of WellesleySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this place

4 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chestnut Hill in 4 storm reports between 2012 and 2023: 2 flash flood, 1 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
October 2012Flash FloodChestnut Hill$100,000Flash flooding occurred on the Boston College campus in Newton. The lower level of a parking garage flooded, roads on the lower campus were impassable for several hours, |eight vehicles were damaged by flooding, and water damage occurred in 3 buildings (including an ice rink).
August 2022Thunderstorm WindChestnut Hill$800In Newton, a tree and multiple branches were reported down on an unspecified roadway.
July 2023Flash FloodChestnut Hill-In Brighton, Beacon St at Warwick Rd was flooded with DPW assistance.
August 2017FloodChestnut Hill-Between 509 PM and 527 PM EST, Beacon Street in Newton became flooded and impassable.

Every storm recorded in Middlesex 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
Thompsonville1.4 miles46
Newton Center1.8 miles46
Newton Highlands1.9 miles46
Newton2.3 miles46
Newtonville2.4 miles46
Newton Corner2.6 miles46
Eliot2.6 miles46
East Watertown2.7 miles46

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612301. 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.