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

Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Newton City. It lies in ZIP code area 02464. It stands on South Meadow Brook. The Survey maps it on the Newton quadrangle.

Newton Upper Falls within Middlesex County

Then and now

1893 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Newton Upper Falls, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Newton Upper Falls, surveyed 1893

Topographic sheets covering this place

46 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.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Newton city, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 - Newton City

Newton

JbIj^ 1700, M. 63. Capt. Noab, of Newton, an Officer in the Expedition against Canada. Killed in battle with the Freoch and Indians July C, 1C90. M. 50, leaving t son Thomas. Ebeneser, oC Newton, died June 21, 1691. .fi. 45. ... . . J. B. Jepson, Newton Comer, rereals many gravestones whose inscriptions are no longer l^ble, and others, recalling the names which filled a laige place in the early history of the town, and Belonged to the founders of its institutions and the authors of its prosperity.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

124,955 words on this township

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Newton City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

About four hundred and thirty men from Newton served in the continental army during the war of the Revolution. Among these were forty-four descendants of Edward Jackson, bearing the name of Jackson. TJiere were twenty-two bearing the name of Fuller, sixteen the name of Parker, fifteen of Hyde, eleven of Stone, six of Seger, etc. Captain Henry King, of Newton, was one of the guard at the execution of Major Andre.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

The citizens freely voted their money as well as gave their services to their country during this great struggle. Many individuals loaned their property in generous sums. Besides this, in 1778 a tax of £:i,000 was voted towards the expenses of the war, and the next year a similar sum for the purpose of raising men for the army and other expenses. In March, 1780, £;30,0U0" were voted for a like purpose ; in September, £40,000, and in December, £100,000. Paper money, it is true, had greatly de])recinted in value. But this enormous depreciation, making many poor who had been rich, did not render these valiant patriots penurious. The entire population of tlie town in 1775 has been estimated at less than 1,400. If this be correct, about every third person in the entire population was more or less in the army, and all the families left by them at home must have shared painfully, though uncomplainingly, in the selfdenials and hardships of the times. It is not unworthy of notice that Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Avas a native of Newton, born near the Skinner Place, on Waverley Avenue.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

The first school committee was elected in 1706. Tiie members were Isaac Williams, John Mason, and Abraham Jackson. From this time onward a school committee was chosen annually. The school question seems to have given the people for a long time no little trouble, and was the subject of frequent discussion, planning, experimenting, and voting. This is evident from a mere glance at the entries in the town records. In 17 IS the town voted £10 to the inhabitants in the northwest part of the town, to aid them in employing a schoolmaster. In 1731 they voted not to have more than one school ; but Samuel Miller, at the west part of the town, offered a room in his house for a school, and the town accepted it. In 1732 the vote of 1701 was reaffirmed, giving school privileges to the centre of the town two thirds of the time, and to the south part one third. In 1723 the inhabitants voted to have the school kept in three places, one " half the time at the west part, quarter at the north, and quarter at the south." At the same time the town was divided into three school districts. In 1751, and again in 1753, the inhabitants voted to have two more schoolmasters. In 1763 they voted to have four districts and four schools, and all to be provided with wood. The duration of these schools was determined as follows : Centre, twenty weeks and two days ; northwest, fourteen weeks and two days ; Oak Hill, ten weeks and six days; southwest, six weeks and five days. In 1776 there were five school districts, in 1791, six, and in 1808, seven. In 1766 the sum of £16 was appropriated to employ a schoolmistress. This was tlie first " woman's school." .In 1768 £50 were appropriated for men's, and £16 for women's schools.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

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 Newton City - it names this place 27 more 27 times.

Fires near this place

104 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 104 fires within 5 miles of Newton Upper Falls between 2003 and 2020, burning about 382 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
Recreation and ceremony57
Missing data/not specified/undetermined38
Smoking4
Debris and open burning3
Other causes1
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
8 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
3 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
23 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWELLESLEY
21 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
14 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM
1 September 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNEEDHAM

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 2,577 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,577 specimens collected within 10 miles of Newton Upper Falls between 1898 and 1975: 1,408 Animalia, 570 Plantae, 541 Fungi, 29 Protozoa, 13 Bacteria, 13 Chromista, 3 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, 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 Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 18221900not recordedWayland
Specimen of Lysimachia × producta (A.Gray) FernaldLysimachia × producta (A.Gray) Fernald1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Antennaria howellii, not of this specimenAntennaria howellii subsp. canadensis (Greene) R.J.Bayer1898Williams, E.F.
A photograph of the species Antennaria parlinii, not of this specimenAntennaria parlinii subsp. fallax (Greene) R.J.Bayer & Stebbins1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Antennaria plantaginifolia, not of this specimenAntennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Hook.1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Aquilegia canadensis, not of this specimenAquilegia canadensis L.1898M. I. GunnNatick
A photograph of the species Acanthis flammea, not of this specimenAcanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus, 1758)1900ZAPPEY, W RROSLINDALE
A photograph of the species Acer carpinifolium, not of this specimenAcer carpinifolium Siebold & Zucc.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Acer palmatum, not of this specimenAcer palmatum var. dissectum (Thunb.) Miq.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Agaricus brunnescens, not of this specimenAgaricus brunnescens Peck1900Morris, G. E.Waltham
A photograph of the species Agonopterix atrodorsella, not of this specimenAgonopterix atrodorsella Clemens, 18631900E. J. SmithSherborn

All 2,577 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Newton Upper Falls: 7 past producers, 1 unknown, 1 producer, 1 plant. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Tantalum. 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
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)Plant
Walpole QuarryStonePast Producer
Massachusetts Broken Stone CoStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
West Roxbury Crushed Stone OperatioStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Weston MineStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Burton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Greendale PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of NeedhamSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Town of WellesleySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Town of WellesleySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this place

1 since 2020

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Newton Upper Falls in 1 storm report between 2020 and 2020: 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
June 2020Thunderstorm WindNewton Upper Falls$1,000In Newton, a tree was down on Avalon Road and a tree was down on Oak Street.

Every storm recorded in Middlesex 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
Eliot0.5 miles46
Waban1.0 miles46
Newton Highlands1.2 miles46
Newton Center1.6 miles46
Newton1.7 miles46
Thompsonville1.9 miles46
Woodland1.9 miles46
Newton Lower Falls2.1 miles46

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612351. 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.