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

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Great Barrington town. It lies in ZIP code area 01230. It stands on Christian Hill. The Survey maps it on the Great Barrington quadrangle. 2,234 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 705 feet above sea level.

Great Barrington within Berkshire County

Population over time

2 figures

Great Barrington grew from 2,231 to 2,234 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20102,231
20202,234+3 (+0%)

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 Great Barrington, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Great Barrington, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

40 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.

Photographs

2 photographs, 1937

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Business street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Largest town in the Berkshires between Canaan, Connecticut, and Pittsfield
Business street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Largest town in the Berkshires between Canaan, Connecticut, and Pittsfield
Locke, Edwin, photographer, 1937. Library of Congress
General Joseph Dwight House, U.S. Route 7 & State Route 23, Great Barrington, Berkshire County, MA
General Joseph Dwight House, U.S. Route 7 & State Route 23, Great Barrington, Berkshire County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Fires nearby

28 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Great Barrington between 2015 and 2020, burning about 20 acres in total. 2 started naturally. None 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 burning19
Equipment and vehicle use3
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Smoking1

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
13 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 August 2016Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 August 2017Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 July 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 July 2019Naturalunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 May 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
7 May 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 May 2015Debris and open burning5.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Berkshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 2,438 shown

Museums hold 2,438 specimens collected within 10 miles of Great Barrington between 1833 and 1975: 1,432 Plantae, 787 Animalia, 213 Fungi, 3 Chromista, 3 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A W Evans, A. Brown, A. E. Treat 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 Betula alleghaniensis, not of this specimenBetula alleghaniensis Britton1833Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Betula pumila, not of this specimenBetula pumila L.1833Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Carex utriculata, not of this specimenCarex utriculata Boott1833W. L. Worcester
A photograph of the species Dennstaedtia punctilobula, not of this specimenDennstaedtia punctilobula (Michx.) T.Moore1833Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Gymnocarpium dryopteris, not of this specimenGymnocarpium dryopteris (L.) Newman1833Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Parnassia caroliniana, not of this specimenParnassia caroliniana Michx.1834not recorded
A photograph of the species Percopsis omiscomaycus, not of this specimenPercopsis omiscomaycus (Walbaum, 1792)1860Britton McCabeGreen R. (trib. of Housatonic R.), 1 mi. S of Great Barrington on Rt. 23
A photograph of the species Platanthera peramoena, not of this specimenPlatanthera peramoena A.Gray1863J. T. StewartGlendale
A photograph of the species Spiranthes magnicamporum, not of this specimenSpiranthes magnicamporum Sheviak1863J. T. StewartGlendale
A photograph of the species Bartramia pomiformis, not of this specimenBartramia pomiformis Hedw.1895not recorded
A photograph of the species Acer saccharum, not of this specimenAcer saccharum Marshall1897Vail, A.M.Tyringham
A photograph of the species Acer spicatum, not of this specimenAcer spicatum Lam.1897Vail, A.M.Vicinity of Tyringham

All 2,438 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms nearby

44 since 1994

The National Weather Service names Great Barrington in 44 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 27 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 4 flash flood, 2 flood. The reports record 3 injuries. 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
July 1997LightningGreat Barrington2 hurtno account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington1 hurt, $8,000Trees and wires were reported down in Great Barrington due to strong thunderstorm winds. One downed tree and wires trapped 2 people in their vehicle, as a tree fell outside of The Country Dining Room Antiques Store on Main Street. The tree snapped in half and knocked down a utility pole on Rosseter Street, downing live power lines and falling on top of the vehicle, trapping a woman and her husband inside.||The woman sustained a broken neck, and may be permanently paralyzed.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington$17,000no account filed
July 2000Flash FloodGreat Barrington$15,000no account filed
July 2023FloodGreat Barrington$10,000Various roads in the Town of Great Barrington were closed due to flooding. The worst flooding occurred along Route 41 near Welcome Street.
July 2002HailGreat Barrington$10,000no account filed
August 1996Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington$8,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington$6,000no account filed
December 2008FloodGreat Barrington$5,000Heavy rain led to minor flooding near Great Barrington, and also widespread ponding of water in low lying, poor drainage areas across Berkshire County. Several roads were closed in the vicinity of Lee due to flooded roadways.||In addition, the Green River near Great Barrington exceeded its flood stage of 7 feet at 6:12 AM LST, cresting at moderate stage of 10.08 feet at 11 AM LST.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington$4,000no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington$3,000no account filed
September 2023Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-A tree was down on wires near Blue Hill Road and Stockbridge Road.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-A tree was reported down on a house.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Trained spotter reported a tree downed onto wires.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-A tree was downed on Christian Hill Road in the Town of Great Barrington.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Large trees were downed, blocking Hurlburt and Alford Roads.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-A tree was downed, blocking Castle Street.
September 2018Flash FloodGreat Barrington-A road was covered by 18 inches of water.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Multiple trees were reported down in the Division Street Area of Great Barrington due to thunderstorm winds.
August 2015HailGreat Barrington-Nickel size hail was reported during a thunderstorm in Great Barrington.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Trees and wires were reported down on Christian Hill Road in Great Barrington due to thunderstorm winds.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Trees and wires were reported down in Great Barrington due to thunderstorm winds.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Numerous trees and wires were reported down in Great Barrington due to thunderstorm winds.
June 2014Flash FloodGreat Barrington-Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused flash flooding in Great Barrington. A house on Main Street was impacted by flood waters.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Several trees were reported down in Great Barrington as a result of thunderstorm winds.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Trees were reported down and lying across a railroad track due to thunderstorm winds in Berkshire Heights.
May 2012HailGreat Barrington-Quarter sized hail was reported during a thunderstorm about 1 mile south of Great Barrington.
May 2012HailGreat Barrington-Quarter sized hail (measured) was reported during a thunderstorm in Great Barrington.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-A tree was reported down on Castle Hill Avenue in Great Barrington due to strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-A measured wind gust of 70 miles per hour with a sustained wind of 60 miles per hour was recorded during a thunderstorm in Great Barrington.
July 2008HailGreat Barrington-Penny to golf ball size hail was reported in and near Great Barrington during a thunderstorm.||The largest hail, up to golf ball size, was reported approximately 1 mile east northeast of Great Barrington.
June 2007HailGreat Barrington-Quarter size hail was reported in Great Barrington.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Trees were reported down in Great Barrington due to strong thunderstorm winds at the intersection of Routes 41 and 23.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Trees and wires were reported down due to strong thunderstorm winds in Great Barrington.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Multiple trees were reported down in Great Barrington due to strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Great Barrington-East of the Kolodza airport a F0 tornado occurred with only minor damage.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Trees were blown down.
September 2004Flash FloodGreat Barrington-Gilmore Avenue and Seekonk Roads flooded.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-Large limbs were reported blown down.
May 2004HailGreat Barrington-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-no account filed
May 1998HailGreat Barrington-no account filed
August 1997HailGreat Barrington-no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindGreat Barrington-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Berkshire 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
Berkshire Heights0.6 miles40
Belcher Square0.9 miles40
Brookside1.9 miles40
Van Deusenville2.2 miles40
Egremont Plain2.9 miles42
Risingdale3.7 miles40
South Egremont3.8 miles42
Alford3.9 miles42

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 Great BarringtonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5598709The 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 607441. 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.

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.