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

Pepperell, Massachusetts

39 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Pepperell town. It lies in ZIP code area 01463. It stands on Greens Brook. The Survey maps it on the Pepperell quadrangle. 2,390 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 240 feet above sea level.

Pepperell within Middlesex County

Population over time

2 figures

Pepperell fell from 2,504 to 2,390 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	2,504
2020	2,390	-114 (-5%)

Then and now

1893 to 1988

The same ground, surveyed 95 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Pepperell, surveyed 1988

Topographic sheet of Pepperell, surveyed 1893

Compare 1893 against another survey:

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

24,897 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 Pepperell Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Indian hostilities had nearly ceased before Pepperell became a separate parisli, although for several years after Mr. Emerson's settlement the men carried their guns with them to meeting. As inhabitants of Groton, they had had their full share of Indian warfare. Many were the thrilling tales of the red man's attack and the white man's bravery ; of Indian cunning and of Chamberlain's circumspection, told by the granddames of a generation ago, as received from their grandmothers, whose husbands, fathers, and brothers were the heroes of the story.

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

In 1758 a company for the French War was enlisted under the comfnand of Captain Thomas Lawrence. Previous to their departure to join the army, Mr. Emerson preached a sermon to the company, congratulating the men for the cheerfulness and becoming seriousness with which they had engaged in this affair. Thus he encouraged them: " Boldly, then, advance into the heart of your enemy's country. Fear them not; let it never be said of a New England soldier, - let it never be said of a Pep|)erell soldier, - that he was afraid to face his enemies, or that he turned his back on them, and cowardly deserted the cause of his country." The brave and stalwart captain was obedient to the injunction of his minister. While out with a ranging jiarty of about twenty, he was surprised by the Indians, and, with the exception of a few who fled at the first fire, the whole party were killed while fighting desperately ; not one was taken alive.

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

Trained in such a school, and inspired by so zealous an apostle of liberty, the peo])le of Pepperell were all prepared to enter with ardor into the contention between parliament and provinces, which led to open hostilities and war. They were among the first to notice and protest against the arbitrary acts of the British Ministry, and among the first to sustaiTi that protest by active and forcible measures.

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 Pepperell Town - it names this place 47 more 47 times.

Fires near this place

30 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 30 fires within 5 miles of Pepperell between 2014 and 2020, burning about 11 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Debris and open burning	17
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	8
Smoking	2
Recreation and ceremony	1
Arson/incendiarism	1
Misuse of fire by a minor	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
29 September 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
26 September 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
23 July 2016	Recreation and ceremony	1.3 acres	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	ANDOVER
2 July 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	New Hampshire Division of Forest and Lands	not named
26 June 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
11 June 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
8 May 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
8 May 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 185 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 185 specimens collected within 10 miles of Pepperell between 1900 and 1975: 66 Animalia, 62 Protozoa, 28 Plantae, 24 Fungi, 4 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. F. Newton, A. F. Newton, M. K. Thayer, A. K. Moore 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
Pholiota carbonaria (Fr.) Singer	1900	H. Webster	Groton.
unnamed	1926	F.A. Gilbert
Anavitrinella pampinaria (Guenée, 1857)	1926	not recorded	Lunenburg
Arcyria cinerea (Bull.) Pers., 1801	1926	Collector unspecified
Arcyria denudata (L.) Wettst., 1886	1926	F.A. Gilbert
Alopecurus aequalis Sobol.	1930	M. L. Fernald; C. A. Weatherby
Epitheca cynosura (Say, 1840)	1930	Davis, E. M.	MA, Middlesex Co., Shirley
Hemaris thysbe Fabricius, 1775	1930	not recorded	Lunenburg
Coccyzus erythropthalmus (A.Wilson, 1811)	1950	Collector(s): James Lee Peters	Groton
Cladara atroliturata (Walker, 1862)	1974	not recorded	Dunstable
Crematogaster Lund, 1831	1974	E. V. Gregg	Wayside park, 6 mi E of Los Fresnos
Hybomitra cincta (Fabricius, 1794)	1974	not recorded	Dunstable, Westford St

All 185 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Pepperell: 9 past producers. None of them still produces. 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.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Adams Excavating Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Harbor Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
J L Construction Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Pepperell Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Seven Oaks Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Seven Oaks Sand and Gravel Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Sharon Contracting Tc	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Tacey Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Tenney Street Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this place

6 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pepperell in 6 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 1 injury. 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
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Pepperell	1 hurt, $10,000	no account filed
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Pepperell	$5,000	no account filed
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	North Pepperell	$1,000	In Pepperell, a tree and powerlines were downed on Prescott St.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Pepperell	$1,000	no account filed
July 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Pepperell	-	Large branches down.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Pepperell	-	no account filed

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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Babbatasset Village	0.5 miles	39
East Pepperell	0.8 miles	39
Four Corners	0.8 miles	39
Hovey Corner	1.1 miles	39
Burkinshaws Factory	1.3 miles	39
North Pepperell	1.9 miles	39
South Pepperell	1.9 miles	39
Paper Mill Village	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.

Wikipedia article on Pepperell	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7166410	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 611153. 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.