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

Hardwick, Massachusetts

30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Hardwick town. It lies in ZIP code area 01037. It stands on Poverty Hill. The Survey maps it on the Ware quadrangle.

Hardwick within Worcester County

Then and now

1887 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 98 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Hardwick, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of Hardwick, surveyed 1887

Topographic sheets covering this place

30 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

15 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Hardwick between 2015 and 2018, burning about 16 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Debris and open burning5
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
10 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
7 August 2015Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 July 2016Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 July 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
20 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 June 2016Debris and open burning1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 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 Worcester County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,470 shown

Museums hold 1,470 specimens collected within 10 miles of Hardwick between 1839 and 1974: 917 Animalia, 349 Fungi, 185 Plantae, 10 Unrecorded, 9 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. C. V. Schott, A. Lavallee, A. Melander 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 Bartramia pomiformis, not of this specimenBartramia pomiformis Hedw.1839unknownBarre
A photograph of the species Carex gracillima, not of this specimenCarex gracillima Schwein.1839M. S. BebbBarre
A photograph of the species Carex intumescens, not of this specimenCarex intumescens Rudge1839M. S. BebbBarre
A photograph of the species Carex lacustris, not of this specimenCarex lacustris Willd.1839M. S. BebbBarre
A photograph of the species Carex stipata, not of this specimenCarex stipata Muhl. ex Willd.1839M. S. BebbBarre
A photograph of the species Cirsium arvense, not of this specimenCirsium arvense (L.) Scop.1839M. S. BebbBarre
A photograph of the species Cypripedium acaule, not of this specimenCypripedium acaule Aiton1839M. S. BebbBarre
Calyptospora goeppertiana J.G.Kühn1895not recordedUS, Massachusetts, Barre
Vaccinium corymbosum L.1895not recordedUS, Massachusetts, Barre
Calosoma calidum (Fabricius, 1775)1896Knab, Frederick (1865-1918)Massachusetts
Chloealtis conspersa (Harris, 1841)1896A.P. Morse
Colletes nudus Robertson, 18981898Bango, AWareham

All 1,470 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

2 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Hardwick: 2 past producers. None of them 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
Barre Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hardwick PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms nearby

20 since 1995

The National Weather Service names Hardwick in 20 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 15 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 flood, 1 tornado. 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
March 2011FloodHardwick$25,000A small stream in Hardwick overflowed its banks inundating Route 32 with 12 to 18 inches of water. In Fitchburg, several roadways flooded, including John Fitch Highway, River Street at Wallace Road, and Columbia, Shea, and Cathy Streets. In addition, the fire department pumped out about two dozen basements that were flooded. Several roads were closed due to flooding, including Barre, Petersham, Lincoln, and Brooks Village Roads in Phillipston, Williamville, New Templeton, and Brigham Roads in Hubbardston, Route 122 in Barre, Brown Road in Royalston, Center Bridge Road in Lancaster, Stoney Bridge and River Roads in Templeton, and Whitmanville Road in Westminster. A car was flooded out on Commercial Street in Leominster, near the JC Penney department store. Three feet of water flooded the Barre public library and the wastewater treatment plant on the Ware River was flooded. In Leominster, four people had to be pulled out of vehicles near the Mall at Whitney Field.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindHardwick$25,000Trees were downed on Bridge and Gilbertville Roads.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindHardwick$15,000no account filed
August 2009Thunderstorm WindHardwick$10,000Trees on Route 32A were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindHardwick$8,000Many trees were downed by thunderstorm winds.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindHardwick$8,000no account filed
September 2023Thunderstorm WindHardwick$3,000In Hardwick, there were numerous trees and wires down on Old Greenwich Plains Rd.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindHardwick$2,000A tree was downed on wires on Muddy Brook Street.
October 2018Tornado (EF1)Hardwick-A tornado touched down south of the middle stretch of Patrill Hollow Road in Hardwick around 403 PM EDT. It then moved northeast, crossing the road and ended up in a wooded area to the northwest of the intersection of Patrill Hollow Road and Czesky Road, to the south of Greenwich Road. There were several eyewitnesses who saw the tornado. A school teacher at the Eagle Hill School saw it form, touch down, and lift just as quickly as it had touched down. Another person who was much closer to the circulation saw the swirling of debris. A third person heard a tremendous roaring sound. More than 150 trees, many of which were medium to large oaks, were either uprooted or snapped on Patrill Hollow Road. While most were blown down from southwest to northeast, the survey team did find several that were blown down from east to west, indicating rotation. Wind speeds were estimated at 90-95 mph, which is classified as EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Farther to the east, three very large trees were downed in the Old Cemetery near Hardwick Common. At an old abandoned gas station, shingles were missing and a metal cover to a pump was blown off. Next door, a cupola was blown off the roof of the fire department. It is believed that the wind damage there was from straight-line winds associated with the same storm cell, but not directly from the tornado.
May 2010HailHardwick-A boater on Quabbin Reservoir radioed in a report of quarter size hail.
July 2010HailHardwick-Quarter to half dollar size hail fell in Hardwick.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindHardwick-Large branches down near the Fire Station.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindHardwick-Large tree limbs down on Route 32.
February 1997Thunderstorm WindHardwick-A severe thunderstorm brought a peak wind gust to 60 mph at Barre at 2:20 PM and trees and wires were reported down in Hardwick between 2:22 PM and 2:30 PM.
July 2006HailHardwick-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindHardwick-no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindHardwick-no account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindHardwick-no account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindHardwick-no account filed
August 1995Thunderstorm WindHardwick-no account filed

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
Furnace2.1 miles30
Gilbertville2.6 miles30
Wheelwright3.2 miles30
New Braintree4.5 miles30
Greenwich Village (historical)4.6 miles32
Barre Plains5.2 miles31
Greenwich (historical)5.2 miles32
Dana Center5.2 miles31

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 619279. 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.