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

Dennis, Massachusetts

31 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Dennis town. It lies in ZIP code area 02638. It stands on Black Ball Hill. The Survey maps it on the Dennis quadrangle. 2,399 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 16 feet above sea level.

Dennis within Barnstable County

Population over time

2 figures

Dennis fell from 2,407 to 2,399 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20102,407
20202,399-8 (-0%)

Then and now

1887 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 107 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Dennis, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Dennis, surveyed 1887

Topographic sheets covering this place

31 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 1890 county history

32 words on this township

The county history of 1890 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for the smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Dennis Town covers the township.

Read the chapter on Dennis Town - 32 words.

Fires nearby

44 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 44 fires within 5 miles of Dennis between 2015 and 2020, burning about 11 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 5 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined15
Debris and open burning9
Equipment and vehicle use5
Natural5
Arson/incendiarism5
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
20 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
19 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
13 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control5168
2 August 2020Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
10 August 2018Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Barnstable County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 4,342 shown

Museums hold 4,342 specimens collected within 10 miles of Dennis between 1866 and 1975: 2,895 Animalia, 1,079 Plantae, 229 Fungi, 131 Chromista, 4 Bacteria, 3 Unrecorded, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. R. Hodgdon, A. R. Hodgdon; H. K. Svenson;D. Conant;J. Wicks 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 Aecidium Pers.Aecidium Pers.1900Seymour, Arthur Blissnear Shoot-flying Hill [sic; Shootflying Hill], Hyannis, Mass. [Massachusetts]
Specimen of Uromyces lespedezae-procumbentis (Schwein.) Lagerh.Uromyces lespedezae-procumbentis (Schwein.) Lagerh.1900A. B. SeymourHyannis
A photograph of the species Calidris alba, not of this specimenCalidris alba (Pallas, 1764)1866not recordedCape Cod
A photograph of the species Alosa mediocris, not of this specimenAlosa mediocris (Mitchill, 1814)1871MCZ teamBrewster, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Ceramium diaphanum (Lightf.) Roth1873LuskCotuit Port
A photograph of the species Ceramium rubrum, not of this specimenCeramium rubrum C.Agardh1873LuskCotuit Port
A photograph of the species Grinnellia americana, not of this specimenGrinnellia americana (C.Agardh) Harv.1873LuskCotuit Port
A photograph of the species Sphacelaria cirrosa, not of this specimenSphacelaria cirrosa (Roth) C.Agardh1873LuskCotuit Port
A photograph of the species Amphitrite ornata, not of this specimenAmphitrite ornata (Leidy, 1855)1875Verrill, A. E.; Merriam, C. H.Barnstable
A photograph of the species Ampithoe rubricata, not of this specimenAmpithoe rubricata (Montagu, 1808)1875U.S. Fish CommissionBarnstable
A photograph of the species Aplidium constellatum, not of this specimenAplidium constellatum (Verrill, 1871)1875Verrill, A. E.; Merriam, C. H.Barnstable
A photograph of the species Arenicola marina, not of this specimenArenicola marina (Linnaeus, 1758)1875Verrill, A. E.; Merriam, C. H.Barnstable

All 4,342 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms nearby

16 since 1997

The National Weather Service names Dennis in 16 storm reports between 1997 and 2021: 4 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 2 flash flood. 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 2019Thunderstorm WindWest Dennis$2,600,000A NWS survey team determined that although a weak, shallow waterspout was observed over the southern end of the Bass River, the damage observed in West Dennis was from straight-line microburst winds, estimated at 90+ mph. Media and amateur radio contributed to the following reports, as well. Numerous trees and wires were snapped or downed at Wrinkle Point. Trees and wires were down on Loring Avenue. Wires were down on Corporation Road. Trees, wires, and a utility pole were down on Pleasant Street. Wires were down on a car on Depot Street at Vester Drive. Power lines were down on Old Wharf Road. Trees down on Sunset Drive. There were many others. State Emergency Management reported that the cost to Dennis just for cleaning up the roads was a whopping $860,000. Total estimates were approximately triple that figure, when accounting for individual homeowner and business claims.
September 2021Tornado (EF0)Dennis$15,000A weak tornado briefly touched down at 130 AM in Dennis early in the morning and lasted for less than one minute. Damage was observed near the intersection of East Bay View Road and Wampanoag Trail. One home sustained damage when a window of a sun porch was blown in and others on an adjacent side were blown out. Outside patio furniture was lofted and landed across the street. Another house across the street had shingles blown off the roof in the opposite direction from other damage that was observed. Three large oak trees in the area also were blown down. One resident received the tornado warning prior to 1 AM and was able to seek shelter in the basement. The estimated maximum wind speed was 75 mph.
July 2016LightningDennis$15,000Lightning struck a house in Dennis, setting it on fire.
November 2021Thunderstorm WindWest Dennis$10,000In Dennis, two utility poles were down and a third utility pole was cracked with wires down on Old Wharf Road near Beaten Road. The road was impassable.
August 2017Flash FloodDennis$7,000At 1218 PM EST, a car was trapped in flood waters on Upper County Road near the Hart Farm. At 1220 AM EST, the parking lot at Ring Brothers Marketplace was flooded. At 1224 AM EST, Bob Crowell Road was flooded near the intersection with State Route 134 and the DPW was requested for assistance. At 1230 AM EST, the Sea Shell Motel on Chase Avenue had flooding on the first floor. At 321 AM EST, an amateur radio operator measured 6.95 inches of rain.
July 2005HailDennis$5,000no account filed
August 2017Flash FloodDennis$200At 112 AM EST, State Route 6A in Yarmouth was reported flooded and impassable. At 600 AM EST, a Cocorahs observer in Yarmouth reported a storm total rainfall of 5.15 inches.
November 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Dennis-In Dennis, a mesonet site recorded a wind gust to 61 mph at 1216 PM EST.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindDennis-In Dennis at 713 PM EDT, a mesonet station recorded a wind gust to 64 mph.
June 2019HailDennis-Video on Twitter showed nickel size hail falling in Dennis, MA.
September 2017FloodWest Dennis-At 150 PM EST, State Route 28 in West Dennis near the Marina Bay Club Condominiums was flooded and impassable. The Community Collaborative Rain Hail Snow observer in South Dennis reported storm total rainfall of 3.57 inches.
October 2017FloodDennis-At 130 AM EST, State Route 6A near Apache Drive was flooded.
October 2017FloodDennis-Apache Drive near State Route 6A in Yarmouth was flooded with a car trapped in the floodwaters. A CoCoRaHS observer at Yarmouth measured a Storm Total Rainfall of 5.41 inches.
August 2014HailDennis-no account filed
August 2014HailWest Dennis-no account filed
March 1997Heavy RainDennis-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Barnstable 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
New Boston0.6 miles31
North Dennis1.4 miles31
East Dennis1.8 miles31
Yarmouth2.8 miles31
South Dennis3.7 miles31
Yarmouth Port3.7 miles31
Yarmouth Station4.2 miles34
West Brewster4.5 miles31

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.

Wikipedia article on DennisAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1188932The 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 615824. 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.

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.