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

Cummingsville, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Woburn City. It lies in ZIP code area 01801. It stands on Little Brook. The Survey maps it on the Lexington quadrangle.

Cummingsville 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 Cummingsville, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Cummingsville, 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.

In the county-history sources

48,923 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 Woburn City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

In 1793 the construction of the Middlesex Canal was authorized by the legislature. Colonel Baldwin was an active promoter of this enterprise, and one of the persons named in its charter. Although an English engineer was employed to survey the route from Chelmsford to Charlestown, Colonel Baldwin attended the survey throughout, and thonnighlv supervised the location. The canal was nut nuiipleted until 1803, when it became a matter of extensive notoriety, and was visited by hundreds of persons from different parts of the country. The canal traversed the town of Woburn through its central part, and during the time of its most active business (a period of about thirty years) it presented a picturesque and animated scene. After the construction of the Boston and Lowell Railroad the canal fell into disuse, and its bed is at tiie present time nearly obliterated. To Colonel Baldwin the public is indebted for the introduction of the famous Baldwin apple. He did not "invent" it, or grow it out of wild stock, but he discovered it on a tree on the farm of J. Butters, in Wilmington, and being attracted by its fine flavor and free bearing, secured scions from it for his own use, and afterward freely distributed them to all the neighborhood. Colonel Baldwin died on the iOtli of October, 1807, at the age of sixty-three.

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

.\n.vji,iliee of W.ihnrn wimhi he inennn.K'le without reference to her excellent supply of water. The town is less abundantly supplied with water from natural sources tiian many of its neighbors. It has no large stream, lis principal one, the Aberjtina, llows tiirongh its easterly border, at a considerable distance from its centre of business and population. Horn Pond is the only sheet of water of any magnitude within its limits. As the town increased in its manufacturing industries and the number of its dwellings, the need of an ample supply of water for domestic and fire purposes was felt more and more every year. In 1871 the town appointed a committee on water-supply, with power to secure an act of incorporation for that purpose. The act was obtained which allowed the use of the water of Horn Pond and authorized the issue of water bonds not exceeding $^00,000. Water commissioners were chosen, and the work was immediately begun. A reservoir was constructed on Horn Pond Mountain, capable of holding 600,000 gallons, which at high water would be £22 feet above the level of the pond, and supply the highest points of the town. Pipes were laid at first through the central part of the town only, but the outer villages (Cummingsville, Korth and East Woburn) demanding the same rights and privileges acquired by the Centre, the town voted the extension of the pipes to those sections. To do this, involved the issue of $200,000 more of water bonds, which the town voted and the legislature approved. In digging for the foundation of the engine-house a few rods from the pond an unexpected and remarkable How of water rushed to the excavation from the land side. To dispose of this flow, one, another, and then another of the most powerful pumps were used without checking its force. As the water was of the purest quality (issuing directly from the gravel bed on the southerly part of the pond), and its supply apparently inexhaustible, it was determined by the commissioners to appropriate it for the use of the town in preference to drawing directly from the pond. Connection was made with the pond, as originally proposed, to secure a supply in case the flow from the land side should at any time collapse. To this period (1879) there is no sign of exhaustion, and Woburn is furnished in abundance with purer water than could be obtained from Horn Pond or any other source within many miles. The whole cost of the water-works to 1879 is about $450,000.

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 Woburn City.

Fires near this place

58 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 58 fires within 5 miles of Cummingsville between 2015 and 2020, burning about 99 acres in total. None started naturally. 27 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
Arson/incendiarism27
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Recreation and ceremony8
Debris and open burning8
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
22 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 September 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMELROSE
18 September 2015Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMELROSE
5 August 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD
5 August 2015Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD
30 August 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD
30 August 2015Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD
28 August 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,648 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,648 specimens collected within 10 miles of Cummingsville between 1898 and 1975: 709 Animalia, 561 Plantae, 336 Fungi, 17 Bacteria, 9 Unrecorded, 9 Protozoa, 7 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A B. Proper 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 Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Boletus griseus, not of this specimenBoletus griseus Frost1898H. Webster
A photograph of the species Cantharellus infundibuliformis, not of this specimenCantharellus infundibuliformis (Scop.) Fr.1898not recordedMelrose.
A photograph of the species Cladonia coccifera, not of this specimenCladonia coccifera (L.) Willd.1898Francis P DanielsCambridge
A photograph of the species Cladonia rangiferina, not of this specimenCladonia rangiferina (L.) Weber1898Francis P DanielsArlington Heights
A photograph of the species Cordyceps capitata, not of this specimenCordyceps capitata (Holmsk.) Link1898Conant, [?] F.Middlesex Fells
A photograph of the species Ctenidium malacodes, not of this specimenCtenidium malacodes Mitt.1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Cucurbitaria elongata, not of this specimenCucurbitaria elongata (Fr.) Grev.1898J. G. Hall
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

All 1,648 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 14 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of Cummingsville: 8 past producers, 4 producers, 2 plants. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Peat, Clay. 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
Austin Hastings--Woburn, Ma.IronPlant
Dynamet Tech--Burlington, Ma.TitaniumPlant
Mahoney:S Rocky LedgePeatPast ProducerPeat
Rocky Ledge PitClayPast Producer
Marlborough Plant/Polishing PlatesStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Roma Stone PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Burlington S & G Co., Inc. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Burlington Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
D R RaymondSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Joseph Roberto IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working 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
Winnmere0.8 miles46
Woburn1.2 miles46
Central Square1.4 miles46
Shakerhill1.6 miles46
Woburn Highlands1.7 miles46
Burlington2.0 miles41
North Woburn2.1 miles41
Woods Corner2.1 miles46

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612160. 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.