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

Rockdale, Massachusetts

34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1994. It stands in New Bedford City. It lies in ZIP code area 02740. The Survey maps it on the New Bedford North quadrangle.

Rockdale within Bristol County

Then and now

1885 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Rockdale, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Rockdale, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

34 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

37 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 37 fires within 5 miles of Rockdale between 2015 and 2020, burning about 23 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined17
Debris and open burning10
Recreation and ceremony3
Fireworks2
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
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
22 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 August 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2016Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 August 2020Fireworksunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 August 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
11 August 2020Missing 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 Bristol County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 2,141 shown

Museums hold 2,141 specimens collected within 10 miles of Rockdale between 1824 and 1975: 830 Animalia, 630 Plantae, 567 Fungi, 87 Chromista, 23 Bacteria, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Gridley, A. Clark, A. F. Faull 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
A photograph of the species Gamochaeta purpurea, not of this specimenGamochaeta purpurea (L.) Cabrera1824T. A. Greene
A photograph of the species Lythrum salicaria, not of this specimenLythrum salicaria L.1831T. A. Greene
A photograph of the species Mentha aquatica, not of this specimenMentha aquatica L.1831Collector unknownNew Bedford. [Inferred county from precise loc.]
A photograph of the species Trypethelium virens, not of this specimenTrypethelium virens Tuck.1848ex herb. OakesNew Bedford.
A photograph of the species Ranunculus bulbosus, not of this specimenRanunculus bulbosus L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Vitis labrusca, not of this specimenVitis labrusca L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Endocarpon pusillum, not of this specimenEndocarpon pusillum Hedw.1858H. WilleyFort Phoenix. Fairhaven.
A photograph of the species Menegazzia terebrata, not of this specimenMenegazzia terebrata (Hoffm.) A.Massal.1860H. WilleyNew Bedford
A photograph of the species Pandion haliaetus, not of this specimenPandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758)1860Alan PooleWestport, Westport River, Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary
A photograph of the species Scolopax minor, not of this specimenScolopax minor J.F.Gmelin, 17891860Alan PooleWestport
A photograph of the species Abrothallus parmeliarum, not of this specimenAbrothallus parmeliarum (Sommerf.) Nyl., 18691862Willey H.Weymouth, New Bedford
A photograph of the species Agyrium rufum, not of this specimenAgyrium rufum (Pers.) Fr.1862Willey HenryNew Bedford

All 2,141 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

8 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Rockdale: 5 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone. 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
Clearwater Stone IncStonePast Producer
Acushnet QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Blue Stone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Clearwater Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dartmouth PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dartmouth Town PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Medeiros Washed Sand & Stone PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pine Hill Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Bristol 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
Westview Park0.6 miles34
Mount Pleasant0.8 miles34
North Dartmouth1.1 miles34
Idlewood1.5 miles34
New Bedford1.7 miles34
Smith Mills1.9 miles34
Acushnet Station (historical)1.9 miles34
Plainville2.1 miles34

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 617790. 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.