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

Northbridge, Massachusetts

45 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Northbridge town. It lies in ZIP code area 01534. It stands on Shining Rock. The Survey maps it on the Grafton quadrangle.

Northbridge within Worcester 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 Northbridge, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Northbridge, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

45 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.

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Whitinsville Brick Mill, Forge, 56 Douglas Road, Northbridge, Worcester County, MA
Whitinsville Brick Mill, Forge, 56 Douglas Road, Northbridge, Worcester County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Fires nearby

65 since 2002

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 65 fires within 5 miles of Northbridge between 2002 and 2020, burning about 45 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Smoking11
Recreation and ceremony9
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Arson/incendiarism3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Equipment and vehicle use2

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
16 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
30 August 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 August 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 August 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 July 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMassachussetts State Fire Marshal's Officenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 728 shown

Museums hold 728 specimens collected within 10 miles of Northbridge between 1844 and 1975: 323 Plantae, 237 Animalia, 152 Fungi, 10 Protozoa, 3 Unrecorded, 3 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. P. D. Piguet, A. R. Hodgdon; F. L. Steele 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 Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.1896Henderson
Specimen of Coryneum pulvinatum KunzeCoryneum pulvinatum Kunze1897D. Murray
Specimen of Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) LyonSceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon1899H. H. Scudder
A photograph of the species Trichophorum planifolium, not of this specimenTrichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla1844Collector unspecifiedUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex vesicaria, not of this specimenCarex vesicaria L.1848J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Potamogeton epihydrus, not of this specimenPotamogeton epihydrus Raf.1848J. W. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Potamogeton bicupulatus, not of this specimenPotamogeton bicupulatus Fernald1854W. J. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex brevior, not of this specimenCarex brevior (Dewey) Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex normalis, not of this specimenCarex normalis Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex siccata, not of this specimenCarex siccata Dewey1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex straminea, not of this specimenCarex straminea Willd. ex Schkuhr1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Hyla versicolor, not of this specimenHyla versicolor LeConte, 18251857Weinland, David Friedrich

All 728 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 20 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of Northbridge: 13 past producers, 6 producers, 1 unknown. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
A H Marando and SonsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Armour PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Bannister PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Barnett Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Boston Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
De Gaetano Brothers IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
DefalcoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Defalco Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Direnzo Brothers Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Grafton PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms nearby

9 since 1997

The National Weather Service names Northbridge in 9 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 heavy rain, 1 lightning. 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 2006LightningNorthbridge$10,000no account filed
August 2006Thunderstorm WindNorthbridge$10,000no account filed
July 2019Thunderstorm WindNorthbridge$2,000A tree was downed on Forest Street.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindNorthbridge$1,000In Northbridge, trees were down blocking a road.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindNorthbridge$500In Northbridge, a tree was down on School Street.
June 2017HailNorthbridge-At 454 PM EST, dime size hail was reported in Northbridge.
March 2000Heavy RainNorthbridge-no account filed
July 1997HailNorthbridge-no account filed
July 1997HailNorthbridge-no account filed

Every storm 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
Riverdale1.1 miles45
Northbridge Center1.7 miles45
West Upton2.0 miles42
Plummer Corner2.0 miles46
Farnumsville2.4 miles45
Kittville2.7 miles45
Fisherville2.8 miles45
East Sutton2.9 miles45

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 611035. 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.