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

Pontoosuc, Massachusetts

37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Pittsfield City. It lies in ZIP code area 01201. It stands on Onota Brook. The Survey maps it on the Pittsfield East quadrangle.

Pontoosuc within Berkshire County

Then and now

1886 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 111 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Pontoosuc, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Pontoosuc, surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

37 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

114 since 2002

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 114 fires within 5 miles of Pontoosuc between 2002 and 2020, burning about 209 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 burning65
Recreation and ceremony16
Smoking8
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Arson/incendiarism2
Other causes1
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
7 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 September 2016Other causesunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
29 August 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 August 2002Smokingunder an acreMassachussetts State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
4 July 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 July 2018Fireworksunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
29 July 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
20 July 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Berkshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 957 shown

Museums hold 957 specimens collected within 10 miles of Pontoosuc between 1835 and 1975: 428 Plantae, 352 Animalia, 173 Fungi, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A K Harrison, A. K. Harrison, A. K. Harrison, Florence 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 Bombus ternarius Say, 1837Bombus ternarius Say, 18371898[Not Stated]Hinsdale
Specimen of Potamogeton pusillus subsp. tenuissimus (Mert. & W.D.J.Koch) K.Richt.Potamogeton pusillus subsp. tenuissimus (Mert. & W.D.J.Koch) K.Richt.1900P. B. Weatherbee
A photograph of the species Persicaria amphibia, not of this specimenPersicaria amphibia (L.) Delarbre1835C. A. ShurtleffPittsfield
A photograph of the species Solidago patula, not of this specimenSolidago patula Muhl. ex Willd.1858Brewer; Chickering
A photograph of the species Hypnum pallescens, not of this specimenHypnum pallescens (Hedw.) P.Beauv.1866not recordedMts. of [New] Lebanon
A photograph of the species Platyhypnidium riparioides, not of this specimenPlatyhypnidium riparioides (Hedw.) Dixon1866not recordedMts. of New Lebanon
A photograph of the species Homalia jamesii, not of this specimenHomalia jamesii Schimp.1867unknownWaconah Falls State Park
A photograph of the species Homalia trichomanoides, not of this specimenHomalia trichomanoides (Hedw.) Schimp.1867E. C. Howe
A photograph of the species Potentilla fruticosa, not of this specimenPotentilla fruticosa L.1868Redfield, J.H.Pittsfield
A photograph of the species Asplenium rhizophyllum, not of this specimenAsplenium rhizophyllum L.1871Faxon, W.Lenox
A photograph of the species Buteo platypterus, not of this specimenButeo platypterus platypterus (Vieillot, 1823)1896Collector(s): B. HoagStephentown
A photograph of the species Dendroica petechia, not of this specimenDendroica petechia aestiva (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)1896Benjamin HoagStephentown, Garfield

All 957 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 Pontoosuc: 7 past producers, 4 producers, 1 unknown, 1 occurrence. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron. 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
Colby MineIronPast ProducerResidual
Colby MineIronProducer1856
Colby MineIronOccurrence
Berkshire PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cheshire PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Cheshire PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dalton Pit /Genrl Sand & StoneSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Dalton PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
General Sand and Stone PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hutchinson Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Berkshire 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
Camp Sumner0.6 miles37
Camp Merrill0.7 miles37
Lakeview Terrace0.9 miles37
Victory Hill1.1 miles37
Pontoosuc Gardens1.1 miles37
Camp Stevenson2.0 miles44
Pittsfield2.0 miles37
Camp Witawentin2.2 miles44

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 607647. 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.