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

Felchville, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Natick town. It lies in ZIP code area 01760. It stands on Steep Rock Hill. The Survey maps it on the Natick quadrangle.

Felchville within Middlesex County

Then and now

1886 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Felchville, surveyed 1989

Topographic sheet of Felchville, surveyed 1886

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

21,769 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 Natick Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

HE neighbor towns of Natick are, on the east Neediiam and Diiver in Norfolk County, Sher- Imrii to the south, Franiingham west, and Wayland north. Lake Cochituate, the Long Pond of our fathers, but resuming its Indian name when it became Boston's water-supply, is a noteworthy natural feature. Charles River crooks through South Natick; and on the edge of Dover Pcgan Hill rises four hundred feet. Natick has three villages : the compact, populous Centre, on the Boston and Albany Railroad, seventeen miles from the city ; Felchville, a mile north ; and two miles southeast tlie original settlement, South Natick. Population, by the census of 1875, 7,419.

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

This town, one of the few in Massachusetts with an Indian name, preserves thus the fact of its aboriginal origin; for when John Eliot's missionary labors at Nonantum bore fruit, he wished to gather these converts into a community remoter from the whites. Riding in quest of a good location, and disappointed in one place examined, the record states that he prayed behind a great rock for guidance in this matter. Soon after a friendly Indian suggested another site, of which Eliot thus writes : " The Lord did discover that there it was his pleasure we should begin this work. When grasse was fit to cut, I sent some Indians to mow, and other to make hay, because wc must oft ride thither in the Autumn, and in the spring before any grasse is come, and there is provision for our horses, their work was performed well, as I found whiii I went u|) to llicm with my man to order it."

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

Eev. Martin Moore succeeded him, being jjastor from 1814 to 1833. The most of the ministerial lot, an hundred acres given by the Indians in Mr. Peabody's day, was now sold. It covered the present business centre of Natick. Tlie proceeds largely form the ministerial fund now. Mr. Moore was a sound divine, and fond of antiquarian research. His New Year's Historical Sermon, January 5, 1817, and Life of Eliot possess much merit. At his dismissal in 1833 the church numbered one hundred and seventy members. The Sabbath school began in April, 1818. Mr. Moore edited tlie Boston Recorder after leaving Natick, and, dying in 1866, lies buried in Mt. Auburn.

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 Natick Town - it names this place 2 more 2 times.

Fires near this place

129 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 129 fires within 5 miles of Felchville between 1995 and 2020, burning about 62 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 8 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/undetermined	44
Debris and open burning	43
Recreation and ceremony	13
Arson/incendiarism	8
Power generation/transmission/distribution	7
Smoking	4
Misuse of fire by a minor	3
Railroad operations and maintenance	3
Natural	2
Fireworks	1
Equipment and vehicle use	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
4 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
3 September 2018	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
3 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
26 September 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
23 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
23 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
23 September 2019	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
22 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,429 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,429 specimens collected within 10 miles of Felchville between 1898 and 1975: 1,049 Animalia, 210 Plantae, 159 Fungi, 6 Protozoa, 4 Chromista, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. B. Seymour & M. D. Feigley, A. E. Feldman 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
Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822	1900	not recorded	Wayland
Actaea pachypoda Elliott	1898	Ernest Charles Smith
Antennaria howellii subsp. canadensis (Greene) R.J.Bayer	1898	Williams, E.F.
Antennaria parlinii subsp. fallax (Greene) R.J.Bayer & Stebbins	1898	not recorded
Antennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Hook.	1898	not recorded
Aquilegia canadensis L.	1898	M. I. Gunn	Natick
Agaricus brunnescens Peck	1900	Morris, G. E.	Waltham
Agonopterix atrodorsella Clemens, 1863	1900	E. J. Smith	Sherborn
Apantesis Walker, 1855	1900	E. J. Smith	Sherborn
Apatelodes torrefacta J.E.Smith, 1797	1900	E. J. Smith	Sherborn
Araiospora pulchra Thaxt.	1900	Thaxter, Roland	Stony Brook, Mass. [Massachusetts]
Archips cerasivorana (Fitch, 1856)	1900	E. J. Smith	Sherborn

All 1,429 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Felchville: 7 past producers, 1 plant, 1 producer, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Peat. 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
Hawkridge Bros--Ashland, Ma.	Iron	Plant
Panlini Loam Co	Peat	Past Producer	Peat
Arthur Scofield Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Framington Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Hi-Way Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
New England Sand & Grv Co. Pit & Pl	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Sand & Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Stonebridge Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Town of Natick	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Town of Wayland	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this place

10 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Felchville in 10 storm reports between 2008 and 2022: 5 flood, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 2018	Flood	Felchville	$30,000	At 7:35 PM EST, cars were trapped in two feet of water on Speen Street at Timber Lane in Natick. At 7:41 PM, cars were trapped in flood waters at the junction of State Routes 9 and 27 in Natick. At 7:52 PM EST, a car was trapped in flood waters on Chrysler Road in Natick. At 7:53 PM EST, Wethersfield Road was flooded with two feet on water. At 8:04 PM, three feet of water covered the intersection of Terrance Avenue and Wethersfield Road.
October 2014	Flood	Felchville	$20,000	Route 9 was flooded and closed at Route 27. Route 135 and Washington Avenue were flooded. Cars were stuck in flood waters on Route 9 westbound and North Main Street. A car was stranded by flood waters halfway up the tires on Route 27 at Washington Street.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Felchville	$5,000	In Wellesley, a tree was reported down on a car, but no injuries. Street unspecified. Report relayed by amateur radio.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Felchville	$4,000	A thunderstorm gust front downed two trees in the vicinity of Appleton Road and Centre Street. The spotter also observed a possible gustnado in the vicinity of Lake Cochituate. Wires also were downed.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Felchville	$3,300	In Natick, a tree was down on a house on Frost Street. Wires were down on Perry Road.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Felchville	$2,500	At 1243 PM EST, in Natick a tree was down on Worcester Street at Linden Street. Also, a tree and wires were down at Marion and Bacon Streets.
July 2019	Flood	Felchville	-	Flooding on ROUTE 9 at Wethersfield Rd and Terrane Ave. A car became stuck in flood waters.
July 2019	Flood	Felchville	-	Flooding was reported on Oak St in Natick.
January 2018	Flood	Felchville	-	At 1117 PM EST, Dartmouth Street in Natick was flooded with two feet of water.
July 2018	Flash Flood	Felchville	-	At 4:25 PM EST, the intersection of State Route 9 and State Route 27 in Natick was closed due to flooding.

Every storm 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
North Natick	0.3 miles	46
Lake Forest Park	0.8 miles	46
Natick	1.1 miles	46
Cochituate	1.6 miles	46
West Natick	1.7 miles	40
East Natick	1.9 miles	46
Lokerville	2.1 miles	40
Camp Mary Day	2.7 miles	46

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 Felchville	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q18150689	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 611925. 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.