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

East Freetown, Massachusetts

34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Freetown town. It lies in ZIP code area 02717. It stands on Fall Brook. The Survey maps it on the Assawompset Pond quadrangle.

East Freetown within Bristol County

Then and now

1885 to 1997

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 East Freetown, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of East Freetown, surveyed 1885

Compare 1885 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

34 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

27,587 words on this township

History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Freetown Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The Nye family is of English extraction, and the American branch can claim kindred with the noble families of that name in England. Capt. Obed Nye, born 1737, had two wives, - Mary, born 1739, died March 28, 1797, and Freelove, born 1748, died Nov. 10, 1815. His death occurred Nov. 10, 1815. His son Jonathan was born 1760, and died Nov. 18, 1815. These three deaths so close to each other were caused by that fearful epidemic, " spotted fever," or " black death." Jonathan married Hannah Mandell, born 1776, died Sept. 24, 1844, aged eighty-two. Their son, Obed Nye, was born in Fairhaven (Acushnet) Jan. 25, 1800. He had but limited education from schools, but from the age of fourteen began his business life as clerk in the store of Swift & Nye, at the " Head of the River," where he stayed until he was of age. Then he became a partner, the firm becoming Swift, Nye & Co. This firm continued many years, and Mr. Nye remained connected therewith until 1861, when he retired, having acquired considerable property. He did a great deal of measuring lumber in his time, and had quite a reputation in that way. He was a self-made man. His first capital was borrowed, but his honesty, energy, and thrift were the foundations of his success. He married, Oct, 16, 1821, Abby, daughter of William and Abigail Hathaway, of New Bedford. She died May 10, 1864, aged sixty-three. (See biography of William Hathaway, Jr., of New Bedford.) Of their children five lived to grow up, - Laura H. (Mrs. Charles S. Taber), Abbie P. (married David S. Hall,

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

Mr. Nye was of active and energetic temperament, was for many years an agent for Hingham Fire Insurance Company, and represented his district in the Lower House of the State Legislature. He was a man of good habits, of strong powers of thought, and decided principles and opinions. Politically he was a Whig and Republican. He was social and genial in his intercourse with others, and his Christian charity was broad, holding to Unitarian doctrines in belief, although a regular attendant of the Orthodox Congregational Church. He had robust health both in body and mind until a few years previous to his death, which occurred Jan. 29, 1878.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

The geographical limits of Freetown are now very dissimilar and unlike those of that section of country purchased of the Indians two hundred and twentyfour years ago, nor were those wholly identical with the boundaries of the tract incorporated two centuries since under the name that it still continues to bear.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

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 Freetown Town - it names this place 15 more 15 times.

Fires near this place

50 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 50 fires within 5 miles of East Freetown between 2015 and 2020, burning about 32 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Debris and open burning16
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Recreation and ceremony3
Arson/incendiarism2
Fireworks2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
21 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 September 2016Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlLAKEVILLE
12 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlLAKEVILLE
10 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 August 2018Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 August 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bristol County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,399 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,399 specimens collected within 10 miles of East Freetown between 1831 and 1975: 555 Fungi, 425 Animalia, 403 Plantae, 8 Chromista, 6 Unrecorded, 2 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E Schuyler, A. B. Gridley, A. Clark 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
A photograph of the species Mentha aquatica, not of this specimenMentha aquatica L.1831Collector unknownNew Bedford. [Inferred county from precise loc.]
A photograph of the species Trypethelium virens, not of this specimenTrypethelium virens Tuck.1848ex herb. OakesNew Bedford.
A photograph of the species Ranunculus bulbosus, not of this specimenRanunculus bulbosus L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Vitis labrusca, not of this specimenVitis labrusca L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Condylura cristata, not of this specimenCondylura cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)1855Preparator(s): Edwin V. KomarekMiddleboro
A photograph of the species Microtus pennsylvanicus, not of this specimenMicrotus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1815)1855John W. JenksMiddleboro
A photograph of the species Peromyscus leucopus, not of this specimenPeromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)1855John W. JenksMiddleboro
A photograph of the species Menegazzia terebrata, not of this specimenMenegazzia terebrata (Hoffm.) A.Massal.1860H. WilleyNew Bedford
A photograph of the species Abrothallus parmeliarum, not of this specimenAbrothallus parmeliarum (Sommerf.) Nyl., 18691862Willey H.Weymouth, New Bedford
A photograph of the species Agyrium rufum, not of this specimenAgyrium rufum (Pers.) Fr.1862Willey HenryNew Bedford
A photograph of the species Anaptychia palmatula, not of this specimenAnaptychia palmatula (Michx.) Vain., 18991862H. WilleyNew Bedford.
A photograph of the species Anisomeridium polypori, not of this specimenAnisomeridium polypori (Ellis & Everh.) M.E.Barr1862H. WilleyNew Bedford

All 1,399 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of East Freetown: 1 past producer, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Lakeville PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Southeastern Construction CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Bristol 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
Heaven Heights0.9 miles34
Masons Corner1.0 miles34
Ashley Heights2.0 miles34
Braleys2.7 miles34
Inland Park2.9 miles34
Clifford3.5 miles34
Westgate Park3.9 miles34
Buffington Corner4.0 miles34

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 613500. 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.