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

Hemlock Brook, Massachusetts

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Williamstown town. It lies in ZIP code area 01267. It stands on Sheep Hill. The Survey maps it on the Williamstown quadrangle. The federal gazetteer marks this settlement historical: it is no longer a populated place, though the surveys that recorded it still are.

Hemlock Brook within Berkshire County

Then and now

1886 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 111 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Hemlock Brook (historical), surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Hemlock Brook (historical), surveyed 1886

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.

Fires nearby

23 since 2005

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 23 fires within 5 miles of Hemlock Brook (historical) between 2005 and 2020, burning about 23 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Natural4
Debris and open burning4
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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 2005Naturalunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
7 September 2007Naturalunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
4 August 2017Naturalunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 June 2011Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
8 May 2020Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresFire Department of New YorkNA
6 May 2015Debris and open burning2.5 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
10 May 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.2 acresFire Department of New Yorknot named
30 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.4 acresFire Department of New Yorknot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Berkshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 975 shown

Museums hold 975 specimens collected within 10 miles of Hemlock Brook (historical) between 1828 and 1975: 430 Plantae, 382 Animalia, 148 Fungi, 9 Protozoa, 5 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A K Harrison, A Schwartz, A. Cowee 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 Antennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Richardson, 1823Antennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Richardson, 18231898J. R. Churchill
Specimen of Carex pensylvanica Lam.Carex pensylvanica Lam.1898J. R. Churchill
Specimen of Lycopodium annotinum var. pungens (Desv.) La Pylaie ex Desv.Lycopodium annotinum var. pungens (Desv.) La Pylaie ex Desv.1898Kofoid, C.A.North Adams.
A photograph of the species Carex aestivalis, not of this specimenCarex aestivalis M.A.Curtis ex A.Gray1828Collector unknownSaddle Mountain, near Williamstown.
A photograph of the species Carex emmonsii, not of this specimenCarex emmonsii var. muhlenbergii (A.Gray ex Torrey) Rettig1828Collector unspecifiedWilliamstown. [Inferred locality from precise loc.]
A photograph of the species Cystopteris bulbifera, not of this specimenCystopteris bulbifera (L.) Bernh.1828Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Dryopteris goldiana, not of this specimenDryopteris goldiana (Hook. ex Goldie) A.Gray1828Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Fraxinus americana, not of this specimenFraxinus americana L.1828J. Torrey
Jamesoniella autumnalis (DC.) Steph.1828Ebenezer Emmons
A photograph of the species Tilia americana, not of this specimenTilia americana L.1828Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Scorzoneroides autumnalis, not of this specimenScorzoneroides autumnalis (L.) Moench1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Spiraea tomentosa, not of this specimenSpiraea tomentosa L.1850not recorded

All 975 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 Hemlock Brook (historical): 1 past producer, 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
Harwood D Moore Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Simonds Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working 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
Sweets Corner1.9 miles40
South Williamstown2.1 miles40
Steeles Corners2.1 miles40
Williamstown2.5 miles40
Hemlock Brook Estates3.0 miles40
Meadowvale3.1 miles40
White Oaks3.7 miles40
Blackinton4.2 miles40

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 606266. 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.