Pottersville, Massachusetts
33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Somerset town. It lies in ZIP code area 02726. It stands on Steep Brook. The Survey maps it on the Somerset quadrangle.
Then and now
1885 to 1985The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
33 sheetsMatched 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.
- 1885 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1888 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1918 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Providence quadrangle1:125000
- 1943 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:31680
- 1943 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:31680
- 1943 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:31680
- 1943 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:31680
- 1947 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1947 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1947 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1947 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1947 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Providence quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:25000
- 1967 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:24000
- 1977 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:25000
- 1979 USGS Taunton quadrangle1:50000
- 1984 USGS Providence quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:25000
- 1985 USGS Somerset quadrangle1:25000
In the county-history sources
29,406 words on this townshipHistory of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Somerset Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The spirit of those who withdrew may be inferred from the following statement, which I copy from the records: "Although the seceders constituted a large majority of the church and the society, and although they had made large investment in pews, they withdrew, leaving all" with that part of the church and society which remained.
Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.
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 Somerset Town - it names this place 2 more 2 times.
Fires near this place
34 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 34 fires within 5 miles of Pottersville between 2015 and 2020, burning about 48 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 |
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 16 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 August 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 1 August 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 July 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 20 July 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 17 July 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 21 June 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 999 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 999 specimens collected within 10 miles of Pottersville between 1844 and 1975: 552 Animalia, 355 Plantae, 80 Fungi, 9 Chromista, 3 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E Schuyler, A. B. Hervey, A. Macrae 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 | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Hibiscus moscheutos subsp. moscheutos | 1844 | not recorded | |
![]() | Pluchea camphorata (L.) DC. | 1844 | not recorded | |
![]() | Ranunculus bulbosus L. | 1850 | not recorded | |
![]() | Vitis labrusca L. | 1850 | not recorded | |
![]() | Apocynum cannabinum L. | 1855 | F. C. Seymour | Rehoboth |
![]() | Scolopax minor J.F.Gmelin, 1789 | 1860 | Alan Poole | Westport |
![]() | Chondrus crispus Stackhouse | 1874 | F. Wolle | Fall River |
![]() | Conomitrium julianum (Savi ex DC.) Mont. | 1874 | unknown | Fall River |
![]() | Doellingeria umbellata (Mill.) Nees | 1874 | J. H. Redfield | |
![]() | Ectocarpus littoralis (L.) Lyngb. | 1874 | F. Wolle | Fall River |
![]() | Lathyrus japonicus var. glaber (Ser.) Fernald | 1874 | not recorded | |
![]() | Ulva latissima L. | 1874 | F. Wolle | Fall River |
All 999 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Pottersville: 3 past producers, 1 plant, 1 producer. 2 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assonet Sand and Gravel Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| East Freetown Pit & Assonet Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Lanzisera Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Randy Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Swansea Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steep Brook | 0.9 miles | 36 | |
| Somerset | 1.5 miles | 33 | |
| Bowenville | 1.7 miles | 36 | |
| Mechanicsville | 1.9 miles | 36 | |
| Slades Ferry | 2.2 miles | 36 | |
| Fall River Station | 2.6 miles | 36 | |
| Swansea | 2.6 miles | 36 | |
| Swansea Center | 2.8 miles | 36 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612652. 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.












































