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

Pilgrim Heights, Massachusetts

33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Truro town. It lies in ZIP code area 02652. It sits by High Head. The Survey maps it on the North Truro quadrangle.

Pilgrim Heights within Barnstable County

Then and now

1887 to 1984

The same ground, surveyed 97 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Pilgrim Heights, surveyed 1984
Topographic sheet of Pilgrim Heights, surveyed 1887

Topographic sheets covering this place

33 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 1890 county history

40 words on this township

The county history of 1890 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for the smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Truro Town covers the township.

Read the chapter on Truro Town - 40 words.

Fires nearby

33 since 1992

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 33 fires within 5 miles of Pilgrim Heights between 1992 and 2020, burning about 24 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined17
Smoking5
Recreation and ceremony4
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Arson/incendiarism1
Debris and open burning1
Fireworks1

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
6 September 1998Smoking3.0 acresCape Cod National SeashorePILGRIM HT
5 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCape Cod National SeashoreHEAD OF THE MEADOW
15 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCape Cod National SeashoreHORTONS ADVENTURE BOUND FIRE
14 September 2020Fireworksunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
14 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCape Cod National SeashoreRACE POINT SOUTH BLOWOUT FIRE
11 September 2013Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreCape Cod National SeashoreFOX WILDFIRE
11 September 1995Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCape Cod National SeashoreHERRCOVE
6 August 1992Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCape Cod National SeashoreARTSDUNE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Barnstable County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 3,316 shown

Museums hold 3,316 specimens collected within 10 miles of Pilgrim Heights between 1827 and 1975: 2,952 Animalia, 149 Plantae, 110 Unrecorded, 55 Chromista, 50 Fungi. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. K. Harrison, A. K. Harrison, G.C.H., A. M. Ottley 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 Aralia hispida, not of this specimenAralia hispida Vent.1827A. M. Ottley
A photograph of the species Brevoortia tyrannus, not of this specimenBrevoortia tyrannus (Latrobe, 1802)1853Atwood, Nathaniel E.Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Pseudopleuronectes americanus, not of this specimenPseudopleuronectes americanus (Walbaum, 1792)1853Atwood, Nathaniel E.Cape Cod, Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Scophthalmus aquosus, not of this specimenScophthalmus aquosus (Mitchill, 1815)1856not recordedProvincetown
A photograph of the species Ammodytes americanus, not of this specimenAmmodytes americanus DeKay, 18421859Weinland, David FriedrichCape Cod, Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Pomatomus saltatrix, not of this specimenPomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766)1859Ordway, A.Cape Cod, Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Aspidophoroides monopterygius, not of this specimenAspidophoroides monopterygius (Bloch, 1786)1860Smithsonian InstitutionProvincetown
A photograph of the species Prionotus carolinus, not of this specimenPrionotus carolinus (Linnaeus, 1771)1860Harvard MuseumProvincetown
A photograph of the species Paralichthys oblongus, not of this specimenParalichthys oblongus (Mitchill, 1815)1862MCZ teamCape Cod, Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Carex foenea, not of this specimenCarex foenea Willd.1864W. P. AlcottWellfleet
A photograph of the species Morone americana, not of this specimenMorone americana (Gmelin, 1789)1864MCZ teamCape Cod, rivers, Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Pholis gunnellus, not of this specimenPholis gunnellus (Linnaeus, 1758)1864SmithProvincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

All 3,316 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

2 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Pilgrim Heights: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
John F Wood Inc.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
North Truro PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Barnstable 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
Beach Point0.9 miles36
North Truro1.9 miles33
Mayflower Heights2.0 miles36
Pond Village2.1 miles33
Provincetown3.4 miles36
Wood End4.6 miles36
Truro Station (historical)5.1 miles34
Truro5.6 miles34

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 616723. 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.