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

Ponakin Mill, Massachusetts

43 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Lancaster town. It lies in ZIP code area 01523. It stands on Spectacle Brook. The Survey maps it on the Clinton quadrangle.

Ponakin Mill within Worcester County

Then and now

1887 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Ponakin Mill, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Ponakin Mill, surveyed 1887

Compare 1887 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

43 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.

Fires nearby

134 since 2002

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 134 fires within 5 miles of Ponakin Mill between 2002 and 2020, burning about 2,727 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 burning58
Missing data/not specified/undetermined36
Recreation and ceremony17
Smoking16
Equipment and vehicle use4
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Arson/incendiarism1

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
1 September 2017Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
30 August 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 August 2017Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 August 2017Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 August 2016Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 2,207 shown

Museums hold 2,207 specimens collected within 10 miles of Ponakin Mill between 1859 and 1974: 1,253 Animalia, 572 Plantae, 362 Fungi, 10 Unrecorded, 9 Chromista, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. C. Gibson, A. Ferrett 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 Chrysosplenium americanum Schwein. ex Hook.Chrysosplenium americanum Schwein. ex Hook.1899E. F. Williams
Specimen of Athyrium filix-femina subsp. angustum (Willd.) R.T.ClausenAthyrium filix-femina subsp. angustum (Willd.) R.T.Clausen1900DavenportPine Hill; Medford
A photograph of the species Condylura cristata, not of this specimenCondylura cristata cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)1859E S WheelerBERLIN
A photograph of the species Dryobates pubescens, not of this specimenDryobates pubescens medianus (Swainson, 1832)1861not recordedBolton
A photograph of the species Clemmys insculpta, not of this specimenClemmys insculpta Fitzinger, 18351864Agassiz
A photograph of the species Hylesinus aculeatus, not of this specimenHylesinus aculeatus Say & T., 18241872unknownFitchburg
A photograph of the species Bromus sterilis, not of this specimenBromus sterilis L.1879C. E. Faxon
A photograph of the species Megascops asio, not of this specimenMegascops asio asio (Linnaeus, 1758)1879Smith, J. C.; Thomas Wilmer Dewing collectionGroton
A photograph of the species Merulius lacrymans, not of this specimenMerulius lacrymans (Wulfen) Schumach.1879Howes, A.Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Strix varia, not of this specimenStrix varia varia Barton, 17991880Smith, J. C.; Thomas Wilmer Dewing collectionGroton
A photograph of the species Hypericum gentianoides, not of this specimenHypericum gentianoides (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.1881Fredrick L SargentLunenburg
Arthuriomyces peckianus (Howe) Cummins & Y.Hirats.1892W. B. Hosmer

All 2,207 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 13 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Ponakin Mill: 6 past producers, 5 producers, 1 prospect, 1 unknown. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Iron, Zinc. 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
Sterling ProspectIron, ZincProspect
Keating Quarry & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Keating Quarry and MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Bolton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Kanis PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Lancaster PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Landfill PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Landfill PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Luenburg PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
P J KeatingSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working 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
North Village1.0 miles43
Lancaster1.9 miles43
South Lancaster2.5 miles43
Five Corners2.8 miles43
Gates Crossing2.8 miles43
Pratt Junction3.0 miles43
Ebenville3.1 miles43
Still River3.8 miles43

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 Q122597233The 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 611158. 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.