Prescott, Massachusetts
32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1990. It stands in New Salem town. It lies in ZIP code area 01355. It stands on Prescott Hill. The Survey maps it on the Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle. The federal gazetteer marks this settlement historical: it is no longer a populated place, though the surveys that recorded it still are.
Then and now
1887 to 1990The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1887 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
32 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.
- 1887 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1890 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Belchertown quadrangle1:62500
- 1908 USGS Ware quadrangle1:125000
- 1908 USGS Ware quadrangle1:125000
- 1942 USGS Ware quadrangle1:125000
- 1944 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:31680
- 1944 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:31680
- 1944 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:31680
- 1948 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1952 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:31680
- 1952 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:24000
- 1952 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:31680
- 1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:25000
- 1967 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Quabbin Reservoir quadrangle1:25000
- 1985 USGS Holyoke quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Holyoke quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Shutesbury quadrangle1:25000
- 1990 USGS Shutesbury quadrangle1:25000
Fires nearby
5 since 2004The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Prescott (historical) between 2004 and 2020, burning about 3 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 August 2020 | Natural | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | LITTLE QUABBIN ISLAND FIRE |
| 4 April 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 21 April 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 19 April 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Massachussetts State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 15 October 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.5 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected nearby
12 of 6,638 shownMuseums hold 6,638 specimens collected within 10 miles of Prescott (historical) between 1781 and 1975: 3,234 Animalia, 1,685 Plantae, 1,525 Fungi, 123 Chromista, 62 Protozoa, 9 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. Allen, A. B. Seymour, A. Buckman 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Cercospora violae Sacc. | 1895 | Ralph E. Smith | Hothouse, Mass. Agr. College, Amherst |
![]() | Septoria petroselini Desm. | 1895 | R. E. Smith | Hothouse, Mass. Agr. College |
![]() | Bombus bimaculatus Cresson, 1863 | 1899 | [Not Stated] | Hatch Experiment Station |
![]() | Carex argyrantha Tuck. ex Dewey | 1781 | H. G. Jesup | Amherst in Hampshire Co., and Leverett in Franklin Co., Massachusetts. [Inferred counties from precise loc.] |
![]() | Carex foenea Willd. | 1781 | H. G. Jesup | And Leverett |
![]() | Ustilago nuda (C.N.Jensen) Kellerm. & Swingle | 1810 | J.E. Humphrey | |
![]() | Ranunculus ambigens S.Watson | 1831 | S. Shurtleff | |
![]() | Dactylis glomerata L. | 1839 | S J Ewer | |
![]() | Solidago arguta Aiton | 1841 | Collector(s): Henry Holmes Babcock, Henry Griswold Jesup | Amherst |
![]() | Phlebiella vaga (Fr.) P.Karst. | 1845 | Illegible collector name | |
![]() | Elodea nuttallii (Planch.) H.St.John | 1847 | H. G. Jesup | |
![]() | Biatora sanguineoatra (Wulfen) Tuck. | 1848 | Tuckerman Edward |
All 6,638 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries nearby
2 within 5 milesThe federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Prescott (historical): 1 past producer, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Asbestos, Emery, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrews Mine | Iron | Occurrence | 1871 | |
| Pelham Quarry | Asbestos, Emery | Past Producer |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prescott Center | 0.0 miles | 32 | |
| Smiths (historical) | 4.4 miles | 32 | |
| North Prescott | 4.4 miles | 32 | |
| Cooleyville | 5.1 miles | 32 | |
| Baconville | 5.5 miles | 35 | |
| Shutesbury | 5.6 miles | 35 | |
| Millington (historical) | 6.3 miles | 32 | |
| Pratt Corner | 7.1 miles | 35 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 617516. 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.











































