Rochdale, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Leicester town. It lies in ZIP code area 01542. It stands on Grindstone Brook. The Survey maps it on the Leicester quadrangle.

Rochdale within Worcester County

Then and now

1889 to 1989

The 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 sheet of Rochdale, surveyed 1989

Topographic sheet of Rochdale, surveyed 1889

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 42 printed 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.

1889 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500
1892 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500, 9 printings
1908 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
1921 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500
1937 USGS Leicester quadrangle1:24000
1941 USGS Leicester quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
1943 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000
1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1953 USGS Leicester quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
1953 USGS Leicester quadrangle1:24000
1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1969 USGS Leicester quadrangle1:24000
1969 USGS Leicester quadrangle1:25000, 2 printings
1975 USGS Leicester quadrangle1:25000
1983 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:25000, 2 printings
1985 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

In the county-history sources

31,610 words on this township

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Leicester Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Its villages are the Centre, at first called Strawberry Hill ; Cherry Valley, two miles east of the Centre, generally so-called since 1820; Rochdale, at first South Leicester, named Clappville, from Joshua Clapp, who purchased the mill property in 1829, and changed to Roiihdale in November, 1869; Greenville, which about the middle of the present century began to be so called from its founder. Captain Samuel Green ; Manuville, two miles north of the Centre, which was named after Mr. Billings Mann about the year 1856 ; and Lakeside, which has come to be so called within a few years. The northeast part of the town is called " Mulberry Grove," the name being first given in 1827 to the estate of Silas Earle, on wbich he raised mulberry trees and produced silk from the silk-worm.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.

Roman Catholic Church. - The first Roman Catholic Church in town was St. Polycarp's, and was erected in 1854, half a mile east of Strawberry Hill. The cornerstone of the present church, St. Joseph's, was laid on the same site, September 1, 1867, Rev. Robert W. Brady, president of Holy Cross College, officiating. The church was dedicated January 2, 1870, Right Rev. John J. Williams, present Archbishop of Boston, officiating, The old church was taken down and moved to Rochdale during 1869, and was dedicated as St. Aloysius' Church. November 21st of the same year. Right Rev. John J. Williams officiating There was no resident pastor of the parish until August 1, 1880. The two churches were attended by the Jesuit Fathers from Holy Cross College, Worcester, in the following order: January, 1854, Rev. Peter Kroes ; August, 1856, Rev. J. C. Moore, S. J. ; August, 1857, Rev. P. M. Jolehi, S. J. ; January, 1858, Rev. Eugene Veterneli ; October, 1859, Rev. A. F. Ciampi, S. J.; August, 1861, Rev. J. B. Galney, S. J.; January, 1864, Rev. J. B. O'Hagan, S. J.; August, 1864, Rev. Charles Kelly, S. J.; Auguit, 1867, Rev. P. V. McDermott, S. J.; June, 1869, Rev. J, B. O'Hagan, S. J.; September, 1870, Rev. A. J. Ciampi, S. J.; January, 1871, Rev. Albert Peters, S. J. ; August, 1872, Rev. W. F. Hamilton, S.J. ; August, 1873, Rev. P. J. Blenkinsop, 8. J. These clergymen were generally educated in Europe, as they were Jesuit Fathers and professors at the college. Some of them were men of eminent scholarship.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.

St. Thomas Church. - In the year 1873 the Rev. B. F. Cooley, rector of Christ Church, Rochdale, commenced service in the Methodist Church in Cherry Valley, on Sunday afternoons. These services were continued for several years by him and his successor. Rev. S. R. Bailey. The first service and also later services on week-days were held in the house of Mr. Cheney Barton, in which the Rev. H. Blackaller had held .similar services more than thirtyfive years before. The church was afterward made a mission of St. Matthew's Church, Worcester, which relation its'ill holds, although it has been self-supporting since 1886.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.

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 Leicester Town - it names this place 3 more 3 times.

Fires near this place

58 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 58 fires within 5 miles of Rochdale between 2015 and 2020, burning about 45 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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 burning	17
Recreation and ceremony	11
Smoking	10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	8
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Arson/incendiarism	3
Railroad operations and maintenance	2
Power generation/transmission/distribution	2
Other causes	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
3 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
3 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
15 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
15 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
14 September 2016	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
26 August 2020	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
2 August 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
24 July 2016	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,540 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,540 specimens collected within 10 miles of Rochdale between 1839 and 1975: 960 Plantae, 325 Animalia, 234 Fungi, 16 Unrecorded, 3 Protozoa, 2 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E WOODHEAD, A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour 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.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Ochrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal.	1839	E. Tuckerman
Carex laxiflora Lam.	1840	Thomas Nuttall	Cambridge.
Carex vestita Willd.	1840	Thomas Nuttall	Cambridge.
Mycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner	1848	E. Tuckerman
Cladonia cornucopioides F.Wilson	1850	J. L. Russell	Leicester
Geranium maculatum L.	1850	not recorded
Packera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve	1850	not recorded
Carex aperta Boott	1853	W. Boott	Massachusetts
Elymus repens (L.) Gould	1892	Arthur B. Seymour	Cambridge.
Festuca pratensis Huds.	1892	Arthur B. Seymour	Cambridge.
Hepatica americana (DC.) Ker Gawl.	1892	Clarence Kinney
Leucobryum vulgare Hampe	1892	unknown

All 1,540 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 13 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Rochdale: 10 past producers, 2 producers, 1 plant. 3 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.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Crucible Spec. Metals--Auburn, Ma.	Iron	Plant
Auburn Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Crossover Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Donald P Graves Sand and Gravel	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Highway Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Lind Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Oxford Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Oxford Quarry Plant #8	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Scavone Construction Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Scavone Construction Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms near this place

2 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rochdale in 2 storm reports between 1995 and 2021: 2 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Rochdale	$500	In Leicester, a tree was down on Clark St.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Rochdale	-	no account filed

Every storm 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Cominsville	0.8 miles	42
Greenville	0.9 miles	42
Camp Neyati	2.0 miles	42
Oxford Heights	2.0 miles	42
Texas	2.1 miles	42
West Auburn	2.2 miles	44
Dodge	2.7 miles	42
Camp Barton	2.8 miles	42

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 610399. 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.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.