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

East Taunton, Massachusetts

33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Taunton City. It lies in ZIP code area 02718. It stands on Betty Hill. The Survey maps it on the Taunton quadrangle.

East Taunton within Bristol County

Then and now

1885 to 1987

The same ground, surveyed 102 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 Taunton, surveyed 1987

Topographic sheet of East Taunton, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

33 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 Taunton city, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883 - Taunton City

The Weather

How all the people are enjoying this nice weather we are having! Real summer weather. But to the farmers, or some in certain lines of farming, this moderate weather is "not so good." These premature samples of springtime are unfortunate, especially for the peach orchardist. As every groWar knows, peach trees are susceptible to cold weather, and if it does grow very cold again, and there is every likelihood of it, there will be much wood killed and a very small fruit yield in our section this coming season.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

195,005 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 Taunton City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The membership, at first but forty-four, has since increased to four hundred and ninety-four, of whom more than half have died or removed, leaving now two hundred and ten members. The church building was enlarged in 1872 to accommodate its growing congregation, and was repaired aud modernized within in 1882. It has been from the beginning a strong and united body, ready for every good word and work. There are names in its early history which should never be forgotten, - Roswell Ballard, John, William, and Hodges Reed, Philander W. Dean, and their wives, with others of precious memory. The present deacons of the church are Edgar H. Reed and Andrew S. Briggs.

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

Although the immediate objects were accomplished, the parish was so weakened by the then general business depression that Father Shahan did not attempt to carry out a project which he had very much at heart, - the establishment of a parish school ; and having been called to Boston in 1871, the Rev. Edward J. Sheridan, the present pastor, was sent to fill the vacancy. A vigorous effort is now being made in the parish towards the attainment of the latter object, the school to be placed under the charge of one of the religious orders which have proved so efficient elsewhere, not only in imparting secular knowledge, but in so cultivating the moral and religious nature of their pupils as to exert a permanent influence for good on their lives and conduct.

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

During the pastorate of Father Hearae his mission, besides Taunton proper, included East Taunton, Middleborough, Norton, Westville, North and South Dighton. During Father Shahan's, Middleborough and Norton were separated from the Taunton parish, and during Father Sheridan's, Weir Village, East Taunton, and Dighton have also been detached, the Rev. Hugh J. Smyth having v been appointed the first pastor, succeeded by the Rev. James K. Beaven, the present incumbent, and a school-house having been adapted to the purpose of a church for the congregation. Recently the Rev. James Roach has been performing mission duty among the French and other residents in Whittenton, with the ultimate intention of erecting a church, but at the present writing no territorial boundaries have been assigned him.

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 Taunton City - it names this place 22 more 22 times.

Fires near this place

68 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 68 fires within 5 miles of East Taunton between 2004 and 2020, burning about 46 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
Debris and open burning	25
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	23
Misuse of fire by a minor	8
Recreation and ceremony	6
Smoking	5
Arson/incendiarism	1

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
6 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
3 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
25 September 2020	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
19 September 2020	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
14 September 2016	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	MIDDLEBOROUGH
1 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
8 August 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	MIDDLEBOROUGH
3 August 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bristol County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,756 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,756 specimens collected within 10 miles of East Taunton between 1855 and 1974: 1,088 Animalia, 475 Plantae, 183 Fungi, 6 Chromista, 3 Unrecorded, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A E Schuyler, A. A. Eaton 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.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Condylura cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)	1855	Preparator(s): Edwin V. Komarek	Middleboro
Microtus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1815)	1855	John W. Jenks	Middleboro
Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)	1855	John W. Jenks	Middleboro
Astur Lacepède, 1799	1860	C. D. Lincoln	Taunton
Carex panicea L.	1863	J. H. Dean
Carex L.	1864	J. H. Dean	Taunton.
Carex vulpinoidea Michx.	1864	J. H. Dean
Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R.Br.	1866	Joseph Blake	Middleboro
Carex bullata Willd.	1866	Rev. J. Blake	Middleborough
Ranunculus aquatilis var. diffusus With.	1866	not recorded
Rhododendron viscosum (L.) Torr.	1866	Joseph Blake	Middleboro
Chelidonium majus L.	1875	not recorded

All 1,756 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 East Taunton: 8 past producers, 4 producers, 2 unknowns. 4 still produce. 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.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Bridgewater Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Fillion Bruffee and Boucher Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
King Trucking Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Lakeville Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Lakeville Sand & Gravel Corp	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Lakeville Sand and Gravel	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Lakeville Sand and Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Landfill Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Mc Cabe Sand and Gravel Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Mccabe Sand & Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown

Every working recorded in Bristol County

Storms near this place

2 since 2016

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names East Taunton in 2 storm reports between 2016 and 2023: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
February 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	East Taunton	$20,000	Numerous trees near Middleboro Avenue and Hart Street in East Taunton were downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2023	Flood	East Taunton	-	In Taunton, Middleboro Ave near the post office was flooded and impassable.

Every storm 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Judson	2.6 miles	33
Weir Village	3.0 miles	33
Raynham Center	3.0 miles	33
Taunton	3.4 miles	33
Myricks	3.6 miles	34
Berkley	3.9 miles	34
Tracy Corner	4.1 miles	33
Whittenton	4.5 miles	33

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 613080. 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.