BlockLeominster, Massachusetts
42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Leominster City. It lies in ZIP code area 01453. It stands on Monoosnoc Brook. The Survey maps it on the Fitchburg quadrangle. 43,782 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 404 feet above sea level.
Research this city
Then and now
1887 to 1988The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
On record in Leominster
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 12 records
Cluett Peabody & Companylisted 1989
Frances H. and Jonathan Drake Houselisted 2008
Jewett Piano Company Buildinglisted 2019
Leominster High Schoollisted 2021
Monument Square Historic Districtlisted 1982
Pine Grove Cemeterylisted 2008
Wachusett Shirt Companylisted 1982
Wellington Piano Case Company Buildinglisted 1984
Whitney & Companylisted 1989
F. A. Whitney Carriage Company Complex Historic Districtlisted 1988- Earl Company Factorylisted 2025
- W. S. Reed Toy Company-Wachusett Shirt Company Historic Districtlisted 2021
Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 12 of 20 shown
- Methodist ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1891 to 1896
- Opera HouseOpera House, in the atlas of 1896 to 1901
- Roelwell, E. M. Woolen MillMill, in the atlas of 1891 to 1901
- Wheelwright Paper MillMill, in the atlas of 1891 to 1896
- Bank BlockBank, in the atlas of 1901
- Cash Wash WorksWorks, in the atlas of 1901
- Columbia HotelHotel, in the atlas of 1896
- Congregational ChurchChurch, in the atlas of 1896
- F. A.,Carriage CoCarriage Shop, in the atlas of 1891
- Fitehburg R. R. DepotDepot, in the atlas of 1891
- Gould & Cook, Machine ShopMachine Shop, in the atlas of 1891
- Hudson, C. E., Machine ShopMachine Shop, in the atlas of 1891
Population over time
5 figuresLeominster grew from 7,269 to 43,782 between 1890 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, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 7,269 | |
| 1900 | 12,392 | +5,123 (+70%) |
| 1910 | 17,580 | +5,188 (+42%) |
| 2010 | 40,759 | |
| 2020 | 43,782 | +3,023 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
20 surveys from 42 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1887 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500
- 1889 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
- 1935 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1936 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:125000
- 1946 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:31680, 4 printings
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:50000
- 1954 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:31680
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1969 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:24000
- 1969 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:25000
- 1975 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:25000
- 1984 USGS Lowell quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:25000
- 1988 USGS Lowell quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Leominster city. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.
Chapter Clviil Military
Leominster haa an honorable war record. She would, indeed, be unworthy both of her ancestors and the times of her birth, if in all the struggles for liberty, she had not made full proof of her patriotism. It is true that the first settlers of the town had no personal experience of the tomahawk and the scalping-knife; but the story of what their fathers had suffered was a close remembrance ; and these hardy pioneers had barely time to build their rude homes, " establish God's house in the wilderness," connect the hill-tops by roads and erect here and there a mill to grind their corn and saw their logs, when the alarm of war sounded at the North, and the sword did not, for the next ihirty-and-five years, rest easy in its scabbard.
In the county-history sources
21,669 words on this townshipHistory of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Leominster City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The next pastor was the Rev. Moses Harrington. In the first part of his ministry (June 28, 1837) the " branch " was organized as an independent church. Twenty-eight persons constituted this iofant church. The ministry of Mr. Harrington continued until 1840, and his succes.sor, David Goddard, Jr., was ordained on June 3d of that year. He continued in the office here until Feb. 4, 1843. Of Mr. Goddard the Rev. Mr. Mason says : " He was a reformer, taking high ground against slavery, intemperance and worldly amusements. He led the church as a body to pledge themselves to total abstineuce and the disfellowshiping of slave-holders. He also framed the following clause which was inserted in the church covenant: 'We will also carefully refrain from spending our time idly at tKverns, in parties of worldly pleasure, or in trifling company.' He preached a sermon, which is represented as a powerful discourse, against the wearing by the sisters of roses in their bonnets; and such was the effect that every sister immediately dismantled her head-gear of all ornaments, and put them back again within three weeks." His grave is in Leominster.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
The other pastors of this church were David Goddard, Sr., William S. Wilder, Isaiah C. Carpenter, David Taylor and B. H. Clifts. With the end of this last pastorate the Leominster Baptist Church cea,sed to be ; the last entry in its records bearing date October 27, 1849, three weeks after the resignation of Rev. B. H. Clifts. The difficulties were too many and the burdens too heavy for their strength. The people refused to contribute longer to the repairs of a church so badly located and to the support of preaching in a house not fit for public worship. The church was (lisbalided. At this distance of time and under our changed circumstances it would not be well to pass judgment on the wisdom of this action ; but it does not seem wholly clear why it was necessary to disband the old church and lose all its associations if a new church of the same faith was to be organized within six months. Perhaps it was a matter of local necessity.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
March 5, 1850, twenty-five persons, assembled at the house of .Jonathan Burrage, began the new movement ; on the following Sunday these, with seven others, declared themselves the Leominster Central Baptist Church and were recognized as such by council August 23d of the same year. Before the end of the year the house now occupied by the society was built and dedicated. The list of pastors is as follows: Rev. Aurora M. Sawin, 1850-54; Rev. A. C. Bronson, brother of the librarian of the Town Library, 1854-57; Rev. Isaac Woodbury, 1857-58; Rev. A. M. Higgins, 1859, who was ]iastor thirteen months. For a year after this Joseph Barber, then a student in the Worcester Academy, supplied ; Rev. W. H. Watson, 1862, was pastor for three and one-half years ; Rev. Abijah Hall, 1866-68; Rev. Thomas Clarkson Russell, 1868-74; Rev. A. F. Mason, 1874-76; Rev. O. D. Kimball, 1876-83; Rev. A. L. Freeman, 1884-8G; Rev. Julius B. Robinson, 1886-88.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Leominster City - it names this place 85 more 85 times.
Fires near this place
176 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 176 fires within 5 miles of Leominster between 2015 and 2020, burning about 188 acres in total. None 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 burning | 75 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 62 |
| Smoking | 26 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 12 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 5 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 3 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 24 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.4 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | MONOOSNOC HILL |
| 22 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 19 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 18 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 9 August 2016 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 1,769 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,769 specimens collected within 10 miles of Leominster between 1861 and 1974: 1,062 Animalia, 518 Plantae, 169 Fungi, 8 Unrecorded, 8 Chromista, 4 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. C. Gibson, A. Ferrett 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 | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Porella platyphylla (L.) Pfeiff. | 1895 | James F. Collins | South spur, Mount Wachusett |
 | Athyrium filix-femina subsp. angustum (Willd.) R.T.Clausen | 1900 | Davenport | Pine Hill; Medford |
 | Dryobates pubescens medianus (Swainson, 1832) | 1861 | not recorded | Bolton |
| Clemmys insculpta Fitzinger, 1835 | 1864 | Agassiz | ||
 | Hylesinus aculeatus Say & T., 1824 | 1872 | unknown | Fitchburg |
 | Carex foenea Willd. | 1878 | W. Boott | Wachusett Mountain |
 | Bromus sterilis L. | 1879 | C. E. Faxon | |
 | Merulius lacrymans (Wulfen) Schumach. | 1879 | Howes, A. | Massachusetts |
 | Sibbaldiopsis tridentata (Aiton) Rydb. | 1879 | Bailey, W.W. | summit of Mt. Wachusett |
 | Hypericum gentianoides (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. | 1881 | Fredrick L Sargent | Lunenburg |
 | Icterus galbula (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1881 | G. L. Brigham | Bolton |
| Arthuriomyces peckianus (Howe) Cummins & Y.Hirats. | 1892 | W. B. Hosmer |
All 1,769 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Leominster: 3 past producers, 2 occurrences, 2 producers, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Tungsten, Lithium, Tin. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitchburg Area | Tin, Lithium | Occurrence | ||
| Leominster | Lithium, Tin | Occurrence | 1824 | |
| Leominster Pit | Geothermal | Past Producer | ||
| Luciani Prospect | Tungsten | Prospect | ||
| Keating Quarry & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Keating Quarry and Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Luenburg Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| P J Keating | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Tanzio Road Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
28 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Leominster in 28 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 12 thunderstorm wind, 8 flash flood, 3 lightning, 3 flood. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2010 | Flood | North Leominster | $2,700,000 | The Nashua River at Clinton rose to flood stage after three to six inches of rain fell across Worcester County. Two factories in Clinton were closed after ten feet of water flooded the basements. In addition, two to three hundred feet of railroad tracks were washed out. Several cars were submerged in flood waters throughout Clinton. Two sections of Clinton were flooded: the Main and Church Streets area, where Coachlace Pond overflowed a culvert and the Water Street section near the Nashua River. Many streets were closed and several businesses along Main Street were damaged by floodwaters. The U-Haul storage facility on High Street was flooded. Several apartments throughout town were evacuated, but no concrete numbers were reported. The overflow from Coachlace Pond washed out a rail bed, dislodging the tracks and halting trains.||Several smaller brooks and streams also overflowed their banks resulting in basements, parking lots, and yards flooding in Leominster, Clinton, and Westminster. Near the Mall at Whitney Field in Leominster, two vehicles were submerged and their drivers rescued when the Monoosnock Brook overflowed its banks, one was an armored car. Several roads in Leominster, Lancaster, Fitchburg, Sterling, and Westminster were closed due to flooding. |
| May 2007 | Lightning | Leominster | $300,000 | A lightning strike sparked a large house fire at 41 Bicentennial Drive in Leominster on the 16th. A family pet (dog) was killed in the fire. The fire caused nearly $300,000 in damage to the house. |
| August 2016 | Flash Flood | North Leominster | $40,000 | Leominster: Lancaster Street under the bridge was flooded. Cars were stuck in flood waters on Route 117 by the shopping plaza. Manhole covers were pushed out by flooding on West Street. The police department parking lot was flooded. Three cars were stuck in flood waters on Mechanic Street. Central Street was flooded with three feet of water.||Fitchburg: Water was a foot deep on John Fitch Highway and the adjoining parking lot. |
| July 2004 | Flash Flood | Leominster | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Flash Flood | Leominster | $20,000 | Several roads were flooded with water up to the car bumpers and people being rescued. Two homes were also flooded, one on Willard Street and another on Johnson Street. Phone service was out at these homes. |
| May 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $15,000 | Wires on University Avenue were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $15,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Flood | Leominster | $10,000 | At 5:34 PM EST, a car was trapped in flood waters on Water Street in Leominster, and a second car was trapped in flood waters on Graham Street. |
| October 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $10,000 | Trees on Main Street and Manchester Street were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $1,000 | In Leominster there was a tree and wires down on Devin Rd. |
| October 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | $500 | In Leominster, a tree was down on Mountain View Road. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | Leominster | - | In Leominster, Washington Squre was flooded and impassable. |
| September 2023 | Flash Flood | Leominster | - | In Leominster, two cars were flooded and disabled. |
| September 2023 | Flash Flood | Leominster | - | In Agawam, numerous roads were flooded and impassable with water rescues. |
| September 2023 | Flash Flood | Leominster | - | In Leominster, multiple roads was flooded and impassable. |
| September 2023 | Flood | Leominster | - | In Leominster, Exchange St was flooded with basement flooding also occurring. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Leominster | - | Quarter to ping pong ball size hail fell in Leominster. |
| June 2007 | Hail | Leominster | - | Penny size hail. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | - | Trees down on River Street, partially blocking the road. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | - | Trees down blocking Elm Street. |
| April 2000 | Flash Flood | Leominster | - | Phillips Brook |
| July 2004 | Lightning | Leominster | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | - | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Lightning | Leominster | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Leominster | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Leominster | 1.4 miles | 42 | |
| North Leominster | 1.7 miles | 44 | |
| Gates Crossing | 2.3 miles | 43 | |
| South Fitchburg | 3.0 miles | 42 | |
| Lunenburg Station | 3.1 miles | 44 | |
| Whalom | 3.5 miles | 44 | |
| Pratt Junction | 4.0 miles | 43 | |
| Fitchburg | 4.6 miles | 42 |
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 Leominster | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q54185 | The 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 617697. 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.