BlockBefore

North Easton, Massachusetts

39 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Easton town. It lies in ZIP code area 02356. It stands on Whitman Brook. The Survey maps it on the Brockton quadrangle.

North Easton within Bristol County

Then and now

1886 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of North Easton, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of North Easton, surveyed 1886

On record in North Easton

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 2 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 2 records

Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 11 records

Topographic sheets covering this place

18 surveys from 39 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

40,759 words on this township

History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Easton Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Industrial History. - -The limits assigned to this sketch of the history of Easton will not allow any very detailed narrative of the growth and decline of the various business enterprises that existed here previous to the present century. At the time of the incorporation of the town (December, 1725) there were certainly two, probably three, iron forges in operation. One was established in 1724, at what was then known as Cranberry Meadow Pond, and is now called the Dean farm, owned by F. L. Ames. The other was established by the Leonards, who were celebrated iron-workers, and was in successful operation before 1724, but how long before has not yet been determined. This forge was in what is now North Easton, at the lower end of Stone's Pond. Several saw-mills were running at the same time in different parts of the town. There was at least one grist-mill, and probably more. The forge business at the Dean farm place continued until about 1750. A saw-mill was then built to take its place. About the same time the furnace at Furnace village was established. At the time of the Revolutionary war this furnace was owned by Capt. James Perry, who manufactured among other things cannon and cannon-balls. It afterwards passed into the hands of Gen. Shepard Leach, by whom a flourishing business was carried on. Large quantities of bog-iron ore were dug from the swampy lands in the west part of town, and were used at this furnace.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

At the lower end of what is now called Shovel Shop Pond there was a dam with a grist-mill, nailer's shop, and iron forge with trip-hammer, etc. This property was purchased by Oliver Ames, the founder of the great shovel business. He had manufactured hoes and shovels here before this time, but had moved to Plymouth. He subsequently returned, and began in a small way the establishment of the now world-famous Ames' shovel business. Having built a new dam and enlarged the Shovel Shop Pond, he renewed at the lower end of this pond the manufacture he had engaged in some years before farther up the stream. It is but repeating a familiar story to say that shovels were slowly made at first, a few at a time, that the first made were carried to market in a one-horse wagon when one load was almost sufficient to glut the market, that the one-horse wagon gave place to the six-horse team until the railroad was available. Oliver Ames purchased land farther up the stream. In 1852 the factory at the lower end of Shovel Shop Pond proved too small to accommodate the increasing business, and a substantial two-story stone building was erected five hundred and thirty feet long, to which additions were subsequently made. Several other shops were afterwards erected near by, and there are others in different parts of the village where water-power is available. Steam-power is, however, the main reliance. Every description of shovel is made, - long and short handled, square and roundpoint shovels, spades, grain and coal scoops, post-hole diggers, and other varieties. These are sent not only throughout the United States, but to South America, to parts of Asia and Africa, and to Australia.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

An intelligent Englishman visited these works with the writer, and was curious to know how the raw material, steel and iron, could be imported and duties paid thereon, and yet shovels be exported to English provinces, to Australia for instance. Standing before an ingenious machine, he exclaimed, "I see clearly enough how it is, it is your wonderful labor-saving machines. If such a machine as that were set up in one of our shovel-works, our trades unions would have the building in ashes before the next morning, though in so doing they drive business away, and hence injure the working men they profess to benefit. Our manufacturers, too, are very conservative, and are slow to adopt improvements." Those who desire to read a detailed description of the whole process of shovel-making in these works may find it in an article published in the Atlantic Monthly of about 1870, written by Azel Ames, Jr. The Ames corporation have additional shops in Canton, South Braintree, and West Bridgewater. If all the stone shops which they use for the shovel business were placed end to end they would reach about twenty-five hundred feet, or nearly half a mile. Five hundred men are employed in this shovel business. They manufacture from 110,000 to 125,000 dozens of shovels per year. Taking the average of these figures, 117,500 dozens, we have the incredible number of 1,410,000 shovels per year, or 27,115 per week, 4519 per day, 451 per hour. From 1200 to 1500 tons of Swedish iron, and from 1200 to 1400 tons of steel are annually used in this manufacture.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

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 Easton Town - it names this place 4 more 4 times.

Fires near this place

303 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 303 fires within 5 miles of North Easton between 2002 and 2020, burning about 113 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 5 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 burning134
Missing data/not specified/undetermined88
Recreation and ceremony38
Misuse of fire by a minor20
Smoking13
Arson/incendiarism5
Natural3
Equipment and vehicle use1
Other causes1

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 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROCKTON
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROCKTON
8 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROCKTON
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSTOUGHTON
6 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
6 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSHARON

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bristol County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,189 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,189 specimens collected within 10 miles of North Easton between 1877 and 1975: 755 Animalia, 261 Plantae, 172 Fungi, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, 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
A photograph of the species Empidonax minimus, not of this specimenEmpidonax minimus (W.M.Baird & S.F.Baird, 1843)1877C.P. SnowTaunton, North
A photograph of the species Dichelyma capillaceum, not of this specimenDichelyma capillaceum (Dicks.) Myrin1878PiperEast Bridgewater
A photograph of the species Setophaga americana, not of this specimenSetophaga americana (Linnaeus, 1758)1880William C. Flint
A photograph of the species Setophaga discolor, not of this specimenSetophaga discolor discolor (Vieillot, 1809)1880C. T. Snow
A photograph of the species Thelia hirtella, not of this specimenThelia hirtella (Hedw.) Sull.1880Mrs. Piper
A photograph of the species Passerina cyanea, not of this specimenPasserina cyanea (Linnaeus, 1766)1881C. F. SnowMASSACHUSETTS: Bristol County; Norton
A photograph of the species Fontinalis novae-angliae, not of this specimenFontinalis novae-angliae Sull.1883C. G. Pringle; Mrs. Piper
A photograph of the species Cyprinus carpio, not of this specimenCyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 17581887N. KeithCampello, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Spizella pusilla, not of this specimenSpizella pusilla pusilla (A.Wilson, 1810)1888Collector(s): unknownNorton
A photograph of the species Gaultheria procumbens, not of this specimenGaultheria procumbens L.1889not recordedN. Easton
A photograph of the species Neogale Gray, not of this specimenNeogale Gray, 18651889not recordedMassachusetts
A photograph of the species Setophaga coronata, not of this specimenSetophaga coronata coronata (Linnaeus, 1766)1889Collector(s): Arthur Cleveland BentNorton

All 1,189 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of North Easton: 6 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Easton PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
A Edward SarniSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Brockton PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Brockton Sand & Gravel Company PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Easton Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Gerald Kelleher Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Klondyke PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of Soughton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Bristol County

Storms near this place

4 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names North Easton in 4 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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
July 2023Thunderstorm WindNorth Easton$3,000In Easton, trees were down on Poquanticut Ave with one on a house. A tree and wires were down on Heath Rd at Prospect St. A tree was down on wires on School St.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindNorth Easton$1,500In Easton, a large tree and wires were down at the intersection of Bay Rd and Summer St.
July 1994HailNorth Easton-Dime-size hail and a wind gust to 57 mph was reported by a spotter. Lightning strikes knocked out power at the high school, fire station, and town hall, and started a fire in the attic of a house.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindNorth Easton-Dime-size hail and a wind gust to 57 mph was reported by a spotter. Lightning strikes knocked out power at the high school, fire station, and town hall, and started a fire in the attic of a house.

Every storm recorded in Bristol 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
Daley Corner0.9 miles39
Morse Corner1.5 miles39
South Easton1.8 miles39
Morris Corner2.0 miles39
Easton Station2.0 miles39
Easton Center2.1 miles39
Easton Green2.2 miles39
Eastondale2.8 miles39

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.

Wikidata item Q123205585The 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 613120. 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.