Saundersville, Massachusetts

45 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Grafton town. It lies in ZIP code area 01560. It stands on Cronin Brook. The Survey maps it on the Grafton quadrangle.

Saundersville within Worcester County

Then and now

1886 to 1989

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Saundersville, surveyed 1989

Topographic sheet of Saundersville, surveyed 1886

On record in Saundersville

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Fisherville Historic Districtlisted 1996 · 0.5 miles away

Topographic sheets covering this place

20 surveys from 45 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.

1886 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500
1889 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500
1893 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1900 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
1908 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
1919 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1943 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000
1944 USGS Grafton quadrangle1:31680, 5 printings
1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1953 USGS Grafton quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
1953 USGS Grafton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1969 USGS Grafton quadrangle1:24000
1969 USGS Grafton quadrangle1:25000
1975 USGS Grafton quadrangle1:25000
1982 USGS Milford quadrangle1:25000
1985 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

In the county-history sources

13,421 words on this township

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Grafton Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The Free-Will Baptist Church, in that part of Grafton called Farnumsville, began to hold meetings in Saundersville in 1838. In 1839 the church was organized with thirteen members, and in 1840 Rev. Benjamin D. Peck was installed as pastor. He was dismissed in 1846, and followed by Rev. George T. Day, who was installed in December, 1846. Rev. Joseph Whittemore was installed April 1, 1851, and dismissed April 5, 1852. During his pastorate the church changed its location to Farnumsville, where it now holds its services. Rev. Joseph Thayer was installed in 1852, and, after a season of languishment, followed by a reorganization, the society settled Rev. B. F. Pritchard in 1862, who remained until 1864. Rev. M. W. Burlingame was installed March 21, 1865, and dismissed the next year. Rev. G. W. Wallace followed in 1867, Rev. Daniel C. Wheeler in 1870, Rev. A. M. Freeman in 1871, Rev. Francis Read in 1876, and Rev. Andrew J. Eastman in 1878. The present pastor is Rev. Mr. Sherw^ood, who succeeded Rev. W. H. Ward.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

The Saundersville Congregational Church was formed in 1860, with sixteen members. Its first pastor was Rev. William Miller, who continued his service from that ye!^r until April 6, 1862. He was succeeded by Rev. Simeon Waters in 1863, who remained about three years. Rev. James E. Hall followed in 1867, and remained one year. His successor was Rev. Alvan J. Bates, who was installed June 22, 1869, and who was followed by Rev. Harvey M. Stone, whose installation took place December 18, 1878. The present pastor is Rev. B. F. Perkins.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

Deborah Foster Saunders, the mother of Esek, the daughter of Josiah and Patience Williams Foster, was born December 20, 1776, and died at the great age of ninety-six years, ten months and twenty days, at Saundersville, Mass. She was an estimable woman and retained her mental faculties to a remarkable degree. The town of Foster, R. I., was named for her family. She was a descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, and of William and Mary Dyer, who came from England with Roger Williams, and settled with him in Rhode Island in 1636. William Dyer was the first secretary of the colony of Rhode Island, and Mary, his wife, was the Quakeress who was executed in Boston during Winthrop's administration.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., 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 Grafton Town - it names this place 2 more 2 times.

Fires near this place

83 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Saundersville between 2002 and 2020, burning about 62 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
Debris and open burning	21
Smoking	16
Recreation and ceremony	16
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	14
Power generation/transmission/distribution	7
Railroad operations and maintenance	5
Arson/incendiarism	2
Equipment and vehicle use	1
Misuse of fire by a minor	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 2015	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
8 September 2015	Smoking	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
9 August 2015	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
31 August 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
26 August 2020	Power generation/transmission/distribution	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
23 August 2020	Power generation/transmission/distribution	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
13 August 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
6 July 2015	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	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 1,646 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,646 specimens collected within 10 miles of Saundersville between 1839 and 1975: 1,032 Plantae, 350 Animalia, 229 Fungi, 17 Unrecorded, 14 Protozoa, 4 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
Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.	1896	Henderson
Coryneum pulvinatum Kunze	1897	D. Murray
Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon	1899	H. H. Scudder
Ochrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal.	1839	E. Tuckerman
Carex laxiflora Lam.	1840	Thomas Nuttall	Cambridge.
Carex vestita Willd.	1840	Thomas Nuttall	Cambridge.
Trichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla	1844	Collector unspecified	Uxbridge
Carex vesicaria L.	1848	J. W. Robbins
Mycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner	1848	E. Tuckerman
Potamogeton epihydrus Raf.	1848	J. W. Robbins	Uxbridge
Geranium maculatum L.	1850	not recorded
Packera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve	1850	not recorded

All 1,646 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Saundersville: 9 past producers, 5 producers, 1 unknown, 1 plant. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Titanium, Metal. 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
Worcester B Plant Ti	Titanium, Metal	Plant
30 Southwest Cutoff Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
A H Marando and Sons	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Armour Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Bannister Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Boston Road Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
De Gaetano Brothers Inc	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Defalco	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Defalco Sand and Gravel	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Grafton Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working 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
Fisherville	0.8 miles	45
Wilkinsonville	1.0 miles	45
Farnumsville	1.3 miles	45
East Sutton	1.3 miles	45
Grafton	2.0 miles	45
Kittville	2.6 miles	45
Millbury	3.1 miles	44
Maplewood	3.3 miles	45

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 611062. 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.