Rocky Neck, Massachusetts
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Gloucester City. It lies in ZIP code area 01930. It stands on Black Rock. The Survey maps it on the Gloucester quadrangle.
Then and now
1886 to 1984The same ground, surveyed 98 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
27 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.
- 1886 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1888 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1918 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Cape Ann quadrangle1:125000
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:100000
- 1984 USGS Gloucester quadrangle1:25000
Fires nearby
24 since 2015The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Rocky Neck between 2015 and 2020, burning about 19 acres in total. None started naturally. 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Recreation and ceremony | 10 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 8 September 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 24 September 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 21 September 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 26 July 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 21 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | GLOUCESTER |
| 18 July 2016 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | GLOUCESTER |
| 3 June 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected nearby
12 of 4,993 shownMuseums hold 4,993 specimens collected within 10 miles of Rocky Neck between 1817 and 1975: 2,066 Animalia, 1,295 Plantae, 1,018 Fungi, 311 Chromista, 192 Unrecorded, 91 Protozoa, 20 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A H HIGGINSON, A Perlmutter, A. A. Eaton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Caloplaca murorum Th.Fr. | 1900 | Clara E. Cummings | |
![]() | Coluber constrictor constrictor Linnaeus, 1758 | 1817 | not recorded | Loblolly Cove, Cape Ann |
![]() | Lecanora tartarea (L.) Ach. | 1839 | E. Tuckerman | Manchester |
![]() | Ochrolechia yasudae Vainio | 1839 | Tuckerman, E. | [USA] Manchester, Massachusetts. |
![]() | Splachnum ampullaceum Hedw. | 1843 | A. Gray; W. S. Sullivant | Manchester |
![]() | Ceramium rubrum C.Agardh | 1847 | N. Pike | Cape Ann |
![]() | Acolium tigillare (Ach.) Gray | 1849 | s.leg. | |
![]() | Arthonia E.Acharius, 1806 | 1849 | Tuckerman Edward | |
![]() | Arthonia spectabilis Flot. | 1849 | Edward Tuckerman | Essex |
![]() | Arthothelium spectabile A.Massal. | 1849 | William Oakes | |
![]() | Cyphelium tigillare (Ach.) Ach. | 1849 | W. Oakes | Essex |
| Delesseria alata (Hudson) J.V.Lamouroux | 1859 | R.H. Ward | Cape Ann. |
All 4,993 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries nearby
6 within 5 milesThe federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Rocky Neck: 6 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Granite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson Quarry | Granite | Past Producer | ||
| Rockport Quarries Inc | Granite | Past Producer | Granite | |
| John R Morse | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Mc Niff-Dominic Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Mcniff Co Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Morse Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five Pound Island | 0.6 miles | 27 | |
| East Gloucester | 0.6 miles | 27 | |
| Gloucester | 0.7 miles | 27 | |
| Bass Rocks | 1.3 miles | 38 | |
| Freshwater Cove Village | 1.7 miles | 27 | |
| Riverdale | 2.1 miles | 28 | |
| Dogtown Commons | 2.1 miles | 28 | |
| Riverview | 2.2 miles | 28 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 615330. 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.





































