BlockColdbrook Springs, Massachusetts
31 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Oakham town. It lies in ZIP code area 01068. It stands on Parkers Brook. The Survey maps it on the Barre quadrangle.
Then and now
1887 to 1988The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Compare 1887 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
18 surveys from 31 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.
- 1887 USGS Barre quadrangle1:62500
- 1889 USGS Barre quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Barre quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
- 1908 USGS Ware quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Ware quadrangle1:125000
- 1946 USGS Barre quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Barre quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Barre quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Barre quadrangle1:25000
- 1969 USGS Barre quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Barre quadrangle1:25000
- 1985 USGS Holyoke quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1988 USGS Barre quadrangle1:25000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
10,154 words on this townshipHistory of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Oakham Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The first town-meeting was held at the house of Capt. James Craige, who lived in the north part of the town, in what is now the village of Coldbrook Springs, on Tuesday, the 22d day of June, 1762. The warrant was issued by John JIurray, Ejq., of Rutland (in after-years famous for his loyalty to Great Britain), " In the second year of his Majesty's reign. King George the Third." The following town officers were chosen : Clerk, George Harper ; Selectmen and Assessors, James Craige, George Harper and Jonathan Bullard ; Constable, James Dean ; Treasurer, Arthur Forbes; Warden, James Bell; Surveyors of Highways, Joseph Craige, Arthur Forbes and Alexander McFarland ; Tithingman, Solomon Parmenter.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
The first class was gathered in March of that year, some of " the chiefest of sinners," as it is recorded, having become converted. A house of worship, standing in the edge of Barre, one mile north of the village of Coldbrook Springs, was purchased by (Japtain James Conant and Mr. Isaac D. Rice, taken down and removed to the centre of the town, and there rebuilt. It was dedicated October 1, 1843, the sermon on the occasion being delivered by Rev. Dr. Raymond, then of Boston. The whole expense of the house and land was one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five dollars.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
The village of Coldbrook Springs, in the north part of the town, has gained quite a notoriety from its mineral springs, the waters of which are successfully used in the treatment of many forms of disease. They are now owned by Mr. Benjamin P. Clark, of Cambridge, who has done a great deal in building up the village. Mr. James C. Bemis has recently built a large and commodious hotel in the place of the one destroyed by fire two years since.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Fires near this place
54 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 54 fires within 5 miles of Coldbrook Springs between 2015 and 2018, burning about 56 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 burning | 33 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 10 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 7 August 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 August 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 August 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 6 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 1,629 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,629 specimens collected within 10 miles of Coldbrook Springs between 1839 and 1974: 873 Animalia, 395 Fungi, 343 Plantae, 9 Unrecorded, 9 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. C. V. Schott, A. Melander, A. Melander & A. Melander 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Porella platyphylla (L.) Pfeiff. | 1895 | James F. Collins | South spur, Mount Wachusett |
 | Pooecetes gramineus gramineus (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) | 1900 | Roscoe I. Giles | |
 | Bartramia pomiformis Hedw. | 1839 | unknown | Barre |
 | Carex gracillima Schwein. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Carex intumescens Rudge | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Carex lacustris Willd. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Carex stipata Muhl. ex Willd. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Cypripedium acaule Aiton | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Moneses uniflora (L.) A.Gray | 1893 | J. F. Collins | |
 | Aquilegia canadensis L. | 1894 | H. E. Greenwood | Holden |
 | Chrysosplenium americanum Schwein. ex Hook. | 1894 | H. E. Greenwood |
All 1,629 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Coldbrook Springs: 4 past producers, 1 producer. 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Browns Trucking | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| E. J. Connors Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Landfill Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Legion Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| R Curtis Sand and Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smithville | 0.4 miles | 31 | |
| White Valley | 1.8 miles | 31 | |
| Barre Falls | 2.6 miles | 31 | |
| South Barre | 2.7 miles | 31 | |
| Oakham | 2.9 miles | 32 | |
| New Boston | 2.9 miles | 46 | |
| White Hall | 2.9 miles | 42 | |
| Heald Village | 3.3 miles | 31 |
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.
| Wikidata item Q122541665 | 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 609900. 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.