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

Fourth Cliff, Massachusetts

39 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Scituate town. It lies in ZIP code area 02047. It sits by Fourth Cliff. The Survey maps it on the Scituate quadrangle.

Fourth Cliff within Plymouth County

Then and now

1885 to 1984

The same ground, surveyed 99 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Fourth Cliff, surveyed 1984
Topographic sheet of Fourth Cliff, surveyed 1885

Compare 1885 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

39 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.

Fires nearby

118 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 118 fires within 5 miles of Fourth Cliff between 2015 and 2020, burning about 35 acres in total. 4 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
Debris and open burning70
Missing data/not specified/undetermined26
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Natural4
Smoking4
Recreation and ceremony3
Arson/incendiarism2

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
7 September 2015Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMARSHFIELD
6 September 2020Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
6 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMARSHFIELD
6 September 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMARSHFIELD
5 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMARSHFIELD
4 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMARSHFIELD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Plymouth County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,083 shown

Museums hold 1,083 specimens collected within 10 miles of Fourth Cliff between 1851 and 1975: 541 Animalia, 284 Plantae, 138 Unrecorded, 78 Fungi, 36 Chromista, 6 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A Loveridge, A. C. Mathieson, A. K. Moore 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 Hypnum curvifolium, not of this specimenHypnum curvifolium Hedw.1851W. L. RussellHingham
A photograph of the species Lobaria pulmonaria, not of this specimenLobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm.1851J. L. Russell
A photograph of the species Baptisia tinctoria, not of this specimenBaptisia tinctoria (L.) R.Br.1853not recorded
A photograph of the species Biatora ochrophaea, not of this specimenBiatora ochrophaea Tuck.1853RussellHingham
Lecidea chloropolia Fr.1853J. L. RussellHingham
Opegrapha stictica (Durieu & Mont.) Nyl.1853J. L. RussellHingham
A photograph of the species Ionactis linariifolia, not of this specimenIonactis linariifolia (L.) Greene1855not recorded
A photograph of the species Polygala polygama, not of this specimenPolygala polygama var. obtusata Chodat1855not recorded
A photograph of the species Cyperus lupulinus, not of this specimenCyperus lupulinus subsp. macilentus (Fernald) Marcks1899E. F. Williams
Lolium multiflorum Lam.1899not recorded
A photograph of the species Penthorum sedoides, not of this specimenPenthorum sedoides L.1899E. F. Williams
Suaeda maritima (L.) Dumort.1899not recorded

All 1,083 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

5 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Fourth Cliff: 4 past producers, 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
Cherry Street Plant, MayflowerSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Marshfield Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Marshfield Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
South River Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
South River Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Plymouth 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
Rivermoor1.2 miles39
Ferry Hill1.4 miles39
Third Cliff1.5 miles39
Sea View1.5 miles39
Humarock1.8 miles39
Little Bridge2.0 miles39
Marshfield Hills2.1 miles39
Second Cliff2.3 miles39

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 615067. 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.