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New Worcester, Massachusetts

44 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Worcester City. It lies in ZIP code area 01603. It stands on Beaver Brook. The Survey maps it on the Worcester South quadrangle. The federal gazetteer marks this settlement historical: it is no longer a populated place, though the surveys that recorded it still are.

New Worcester within Worcester County

Then and now

1889 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of New Worcester (historical), surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of New Worcester (historical), surveyed 1889

On record in New Worcester

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 within a mile 12 of 21 shown

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Every listing in Worcester County

Topographic sheets covering this place

20 surveys from 44 printed 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.

In the county-history sources

37,512 words on this township

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Worcester City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Kettle Brook rises in Paxton, is fed by Lynde and Parsons Brooks, flows in a southerly direction and joins the Ramshorn stream, as above stated ; the united streams, known as French River, flow in a northeasterly direetion. At New Worcester, Tatnuck and Beaver or Turkey Brooka unite with French. Kiver, and the course becomes a little south of east. At this point the stream is known as Middle River for about a mile; Mill Brook then joins it, and from this point the river is known as the Blackstone.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

The waters of Kettle Brook come into the Stoneville Pond at the end nearest New Worcester; at the other end a stream comes in which has been known as Young's Brook, and by other names. About a mile up this stream was an old paper-mill, erected about 1834 by Nathaniel S. Clark and Baniel Heywood. Kettle Brook with this stream carries the Stoneville Mill, now operated by the Stoneville Worsted Company in the manufacture of yarn for the carpet-mill of William J. Hogg.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

The third privilege was at Tatnuck. The fourth privilege was the old mill built in 1834 for David T. Brigham, in Tatnuck, near the bridge on the road to New Worcester ; it is now used for making satinets. It was built by William T. Merrifield in 1834. The fifth privilege was Patch's saw and gristmills.

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 Worcester City - it names this place 14 more 14 times.

Fires near this place

56 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 56 fires within 5 miles of New Worcester (historical) between 2015 and 2020, burning about 52 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 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 burning16
Smoking13
Recreation and ceremony9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Arson/incendiarism7
Other causes1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
3 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
14 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 August 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
13 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 June 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 June 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 June 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,637 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,637 specimens collected within 10 miles of New Worcester (historical) between 1839 and 1974: 986 Plantae, 364 Animalia, 263 Fungi, 16 Unrecorded, 6 Protozoa, 2 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E WOODHEAD, A. A. Eaton, 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 Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) LyonSceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon1899H. H. Scudder
Specimen of Pooecetes gramineus gramineus (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)Pooecetes gramineus gramineus (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)1900Roscoe I. Giles
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia tartarea, not of this specimenOchrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal.1839E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Carex laxiflora, not of this specimenCarex laxiflora Lam.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Carex vestita, not of this specimenCarex vestita Willd.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Mycobilimbia hypnorum, not of this specimenMycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner1848E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Tamias striatus, not of this specimenTamias striatus lysteri (Richardson, 1829)1848L AgassizPARSONS ISLAND
A photograph of the species Cladonia cornucopioides, not of this specimenCladonia cornucopioides F.Wilson1850J. L. RussellLeicester
A photograph of the species Geranium maculatum, not of this specimenGeranium maculatum L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Packera aurea, not of this specimenPackera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve1850not recorded
Elymus repens (L.) Gould1892Arthur B. SeymourCambridge.
Festuca pratensis Huds.1892Arthur B. SeymourCambridge.

All 1,637 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of New Worcester (historical): 7 past producers, 2 producers, 2 plants. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Lead. 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
Bd Bloomfield Co--Worcester, Ma.LeadPlant
Crucible Spec. Metals--Auburn, Ma.IronPlant
30 Southwest Cutoff PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Auburn PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Capa CorporationSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Crossover PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Donald P Graves Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Highway PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of AuburnSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Wiley PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working 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
Trowbridgeville (historical)0.2 miles44
Webster Square0.5 miles44
Columbus Park0.6 miles45
Ludlow0.8 miles44
Swan Avenue0.9 miles45
Valley Falls (historical)1.1 miles44
Jamesville1.2 miles44
Beaver Brook1.2 miles45

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 606262. 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.