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Fisherville, Massachusetts

45 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Grafton town. It lies in ZIP code area 01560. It stands on Quinsigamond River. The Survey maps it on the Grafton quadrangle.

Fisherville within Worcester 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 Fisherville, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Fisherville, surveyed 1886

On record in Fisherville

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 2 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

20 surveys from 45 printed 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

13,421 words on this township

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Grafton Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

After his marriage, April 7, 1835, to Mary Fletcher Dresser (born September 19, 1813; died December 6, 1880), who became a worthy helpmeet in all his undertakings, they lived for a year on a leased farm on Allen Hill, near fhe old homestead, where their first son was born. Then, with assistance from his father, he purchased the farm in Grafton, Mass., now owned by George W. Fisher, and by hard work and rigid economy the soil was made to yield a profitable increase. In 1845 he bought a part interest, with his brother Waterman A., in the cotton-mill in wha't is now Fisherville. He took the superintendency, later bought the whole interest, and eventually associated with him his three sons as E. Fisher & Sons, which firm continued until his death. On January 27, 1881, the mills were burned, and a corporation was formed in the following spring, composed largely of his old business friends, and assumed in his honor the name of Fisher Manufacturing Company. By direction of the company, as a testimonial of their high esteem, an excellent crayon portrait of Erastus Fisher has been placed in their office.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

His children were Henry Dresser, born at Killingly, Conn., January 18, 1836, died in Worcester March 14, 1886 ; George William (born November 18, 1843), at present the agent of the Fisher Manufacturing Company ; and Albert Laban (born March 10, 1846), also a resident of Fisherville, and lately a member of the State Legislature.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

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 Grafton Town.

Fires near this place

99 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 99 fires within 5 miles of Fisherville between 2002 and 2020, burning about 67 acres in total. None 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
Debris and open burning28
Recreation and ceremony18
Smoking18
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Arson/incendiarism5
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor2

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 2015Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 September 2015Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
16 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 August 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
30 August 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 August 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,660 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,660 specimens collected within 10 miles of Fisherville between 1839 and 1975: 1,032 Plantae, 363 Animalia, 230 Fungi, 17 Unrecorded, 14 Protozoa, 4 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E WOODHEAD, A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour 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 Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.1896Henderson
Specimen of Coryneum pulvinatum KunzeCoryneum pulvinatum Kunze1897D. Murray
Specimen of Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) LyonSceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon1899H. H. Scudder
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia tartarea, not of this specimenOchrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal.1839E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Carex laxiflora, not of this specimenCarex laxiflora Lam.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Carex vestita, not of this specimenCarex vestita Willd.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Trichophorum planifolium, not of this specimenTrichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla1844Collector unspecifiedUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex vesicaria, not of this specimenCarex vesicaria L.1848J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Mycobilimbia hypnorum, not of this specimenMycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner1848E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Potamogeton epihydrus, not of this specimenPotamogeton epihydrus Raf.1848J. W. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Geranium maculatum, not of this specimenGeranium maculatum L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Packera aurea, not of this specimenPackera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve1850not recorded

All 1,660 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 19 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Fisherville: 12 past producers, 5 producers, 1 unknown, 1 plant. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Titanium, Metal. 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
Worcester B Plant TiTitanium, MetalPlant
A H Marando and SonsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Armour PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Bannister PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Barnett Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Boston Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
De Gaetano Brothers IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
DefalcoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Defalco Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Direnzo Brothers Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms near this place

2 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fisherville in 2 storm reports between 2018 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2018Thunderstorm WindFisherville$3,000At 9:36 AM EST, wind blew the siding off a building in Green Acres Estates in South Grafton.
August 2023FloodFisherville-In Grafton, there was significant street flooding on Providence Rd and Crosby Rd.

Every storm recorded in Worcester 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
Farnumsville0.6 miles45
Saundersville0.8 miles45
East Sutton1.0 miles45
Wilkinsonville1.5 miles45
Kittville2.2 miles45
Grafton2.2 miles45
Northbridge2.8 miles45
Northbridge Center3.0 miles45

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 610992. 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.