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

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

Topographic sheets covering this place

39 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

43,316 words on this township

Atlas of Bristol County, Massachusetts : from Actual Surveys, published 1871; 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.

Taunton Monumental Works..Burt & King, Practical Seulptors, Designers and Engravers in Monumental Art, Military, Public and Private Funeral Monuments, wrought of Italian marble, red, white and blue granite, and from the celebrated Portland stone, 40 Weir st

Passage source: Atlas of Bristol County, Massachusetts : from Actual Surveys, published 1871.

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.

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 21 more 21 times.

Fires near this place

209 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 209 fires within 5 miles of North Easton between 2002 and 2020, burning about 84 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 burning	108
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	62
Misuse of fire by a minor	17
Recreation and ceremony	7
Smoking	6
Arson/incendiarism	5
Natural	3
Equipment and vehicle use	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
9 September 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	BROCKTON
9 September 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	BROCKTON
8 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
8 September 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	BROCKTON
7 September 2015	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	STOUGHTON
6 September 2017	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
6 September 2017	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
4 September 2017	Misuse of fire by a minor	1.0 acres	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

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.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Empidonax minimus (W.M.Baird & S.F.Baird, 1843)	1877	C.P. Snow	Taunton, North
Dichelyma capillaceum (Dicks.) Myrin	1878	Piper	East Bridgewater
Setophaga americana (Linnaeus, 1758)	1880	William C. Flint
Setophaga discolor discolor (Vieillot, 1809)	1880	C. T. Snow
Thelia hirtella (Hedw.) Sull.	1880	Mrs. Piper
Passerina cyanea (Linnaeus, 1766)	1881	C. F. Snow	MASSACHUSETTS: Bristol County; Norton
Fontinalis novae-angliae Sull.	1883	C. G. Pringle; Mrs. Piper
Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758	1887	N. Keith	Campello, Massachusetts.
Spizella pusilla pusilla (A.Wilson, 1810)	1888	Collector(s): unknown	Norton
Gaultheria procumbens L.	1889	not recorded	N. Easton
Neogale Gray, 1865	1889	not recorded	Massachusetts
Setophaga coronata coronata (Linnaeus, 1766)	1889	Collector(s): Arthur Cleveland Bent	Norton

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

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of North Easton: 4 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. 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.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Easton Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Brockton Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Brockton Sand & Gravel Company Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Easton Sand and Gravel Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Gerald Kelleher Pit and Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary

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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	North Easton	$3,000	In 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 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	North Easton	$1,500	In Easton, a large tree and wires were down at the intersection of Bay Rd and Summer St.
July 1994	Hail	North 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 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	North 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Daley Corner	0.9 miles	39
Morse Corner	1.5 miles	39
South Easton	1.8 miles	39
Morris Corner	2.0 miles	39
Easton Station	2.0 miles	39
Easton Center	2.1 miles	39
Easton Green	2.2 miles	39
Eastondale	2.8 miles	39

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 Q123205585

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 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.