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

Halifax, Massachusetts

37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Halifax town. It lies in ZIP code area 02338. It stands on Job Island. The Survey maps it on the Plympton quadrangle. 7,749 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 89 feet above sea level.

Halifax within Plymouth County

Population over time

2 figures

Halifax grew from 7,518 to 7,749 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
20107,518
20207,749+231 (+3%)

Then and now

1885 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Halifax, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Halifax, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

37 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,

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.

Timothy Wood House, Halifax, Plymouth County, MA
Timothy Wood House, Halifax, Plymouth County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress
Fence, Halifax, Plymouth County, MA
Fence, Halifax, Plymouth County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Fires nearby

111 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 111 fires within 5 miles of Halifax between 2015 and 2020, burning about 32 acres in total. None 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 burning57
Missing data/not specified/undetermined39
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Recreation and ceremony4
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking2

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
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlHANSON
8 September 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlHANSON
5 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLYMPTON
3 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlEAST BRIDGEWATER
20 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlEAST BRIDGEWATER
19 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMIDDLEBOROUGH
15 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Plymouth County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 903 shown

Museums hold 903 specimens collected within 10 miles of Halifax between 1849 and 1975: 481 Plantae, 217 Animalia, 187 Fungi, 15 Protozoa, 2 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by -- Russell, A., 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 Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900not recorded
A photograph of the species Pseudevernia consocians, not of this specimenPseudevernia consocians (Vainio) Hale & W.L.Culb.1849-- RussellKingston
A photograph of the species Condylura cristata, not of this specimenCondylura cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)1855Preparator(s): Edwin V. KomarekMiddleboro
A photograph of the species Ionactis linariifolia, not of this specimenIonactis linariifolia (L.) Greene1855not recorded
A photograph of the species Microtus pennsylvanicus, not of this specimenMicrotus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1815)1855John W. JenksMiddleboro
A photograph of the species Peromyscus leucopus, not of this specimenPeromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)1855John W. JenksMiddleboro
A photograph of the species Arethusa bulbosa, not of this specimenArethusa bulbosa L.1899J. Murdoch, Jr.Middleborough
A photograph of the species Carex comosa, not of this specimenCarex comosa Boott1899J. Murdoch, Jr.Middleborough
A photograph of the species Carex crinita, not of this specimenCarex crinita Lam.1899J. Murdoch, Jr.Middleborough
A photograph of the species Carex folliculata, not of this specimenCarex folliculata L.1899J. Murdoch, Jr.Middleborough
Carex merritt-fernaldii Mack.1899J. Murdoch, Jr.Middleborough
A photograph of the species Carex virescens, not of this specimenCarex virescens Muhl. ex Willd.1899J. Murdoch, Jr.Middleborough

All 903 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Halifax: 7 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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
K F Brick CoClayPast ProducerSedimentary
K-F No 2 Pit & PlantClayProducer
Bridgewater Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Bridgewater Town PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Bridgewater Town PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gourdin PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Halifax PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hill Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
John Hill IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
T L Edwards PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Plymouth County

Storms nearby

10 since 1997

The National Weather Service names Halifax in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2022: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 2 hail. The reports record 1 injury. 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 1997LightningHalifax1 hurt, $10,000no account filed
July 2011LightningHalifax$200,000A house on Monponsett Street was struck by lightning, causing a fire in the attic. This fire was contained, but caused extensive damage. A second house on Ocean Avenue was struck by lightning, resulting in a fire that fully engulfed the house in flames. This house was a total loss.
August 2015LightningHalifax$150,000Lightning struck a house on Firefly Road, starting two electrical fires. No one was injured but the house was severely damaged.
February 2016Thunderstorm WindHalifax$5,000A large tree and wires in Halifax were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindHalifax$5,000A tree on Monponsett Street was downed by thunderstorm winds.
September 2008Thunderstorm WindHalifax$5,000Trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds onto a house.
September 2008Thunderstorm WindHalifax$5,000Numerous trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindHalifax$1,500In Halifax, trees were down on Fuller Street and a tree was down on South Street.
July 2022HailHalifax-In Halifax, quarter size hail was reported.
June 2019HailHalifax-From 2:44 PM EST to 2:47 PM EST there was one report of one-inch diameter hail and two reports of three-quarter inch diameter hail in Halifax MA.

Every storm 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
Halifax Beach0.8 miles37
Camp Ousamequin1.3 miles37
Monponsett2.0 miles37
South Halifax2.5 miles37
Burrage2.6 miles37
North Plympton2.9 miles37
Breezy Hill3.0 miles37
Harrubs Corner3.2 miles37

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 HalifaxAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1019248The 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 613930. 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.