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

Searsville, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Williamsburg town. It lies in ZIP code area 01096. It stands on Gere Hill. The Survey maps it on the Williamsburg quadrangle.

Searsville within Hampshire County

Then and now

1885 to 1990

The same ground, surveyed 105 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Searsville, surveyed 1990
Topographic sheet of Searsville, surveyed 1885

Compare 1885 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

42 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

23 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 23 fires within 5 miles of Searsville between 2015 and 2020, burning about 40 acres in total. 3 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
Equipment and vehicle use9
Debris and open burning5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Natural3
Recreation and ceremony1

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
11 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 August 2016Naturalunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
14 August 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 July 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 June 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
19 June 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
7 May 2020Equipment and vehicle use25 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 May 2018Equipment and vehicle use1.2 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hampshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 2,786 shown

Museums hold 2,786 specimens collected within 10 miles of Searsville between 1822 and 1975: 1,603 Plantae, 640 Animalia, 518 Fungi, 17 Protozoa, 6 Chromista, 2 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A V Osmun, A., A. C. Gibson 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
Specimen of Camissonia LinkCamissonia Link1898B. L. Robinson
Specimen of Buellia disciformis (Fr.) MuddBuellia disciformis (Fr.) Mudd1900George P. ClintonHammond Pond
Specimen of Graphis scripta (L.) Ach.Graphis scripta (L.) Ach.1900George P. ClintonHammond Pond
A photograph of the species Porella platyphylloidea, not of this specimenPorella platyphylloidea (Schwein.) Lindb.1822EmmonsNorwich
A photograph of the species Carex pauciflora, not of this specimenCarex pauciflora Lightf.1825Collector unspecifiedAshfield. [Inferred county from precise loc.]
A photograph of the species Kalmia angustifolia, not of this specimenKalmia angustifolia f. angustifolia1838L. DeWetteNorthampton.
A photograph of the species Kalmia latifolia, not of this specimenKalmia latifolia var. latifolia1838L. DeWetteNorthampton.
A photograph of the species Pogonia ophioglossoides, not of this specimenPogonia ophioglossoides (L.) Ker Gawl.1838L. DeWetteNorthampton.
A photograph of the species Veratrum viride, not of this specimenVeratrum viride subsp. viride1847not recordedBrunswick and Goshen
A photograph of the species Stellaria graminea, not of this specimenStellaria graminea L.1849not recorded
A photograph of the species Erigeron philadelphicus, not of this specimenErigeron philadelphicus L.1858not recorded
A photograph of the species Rorippa palustris, not of this specimenRorippa palustris subsp. palustris1858not recorded

All 2,786 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 20 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of Searsville: 9 occurrences, 7 prospects, 2 producers, 2 past producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Lead, Silver, Lead, Silver, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Argentine Galena VeinSilver, LeadOccurrenceGalena
Granite Rock QuarryStone, DimensionProducer
Granite Rock QuarryGranitePast Producer
Whately - Williamsburg Lead VeinsLead, ManganeseOccurrenceGalena
Bog Iron OccurrenceIronOccurrence
Bog Iron OccurrenceIronOccurrence
Whately Lead Vein OccurrenceLead, ManganeseOccurrenceGalena
Whately-Williamsburg Lead ProspectLead, ManganeseProspect
Southeast of West Whately Galena VeinLead, SilverOccurrenceGalena
Unnamed ProspectLead, SilverOccurrenceGalena

Every working recorded in Hampshire County

Storms nearby

9 since 2015

The National Weather Service names Searsville in 9 storm reports between 2015 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, 2 flood, 1 flash flood. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2023FloodSearsville$10,000In Williamsburg at 7:13 AM EST two homes at the 100 block of Ashfield Rd were evacuated due to water entering the homes. Williamsburg recorded 4.49 inches of rain.
July 2015LightningSearsville$10,000Lightning struck a building on South Street, blowing the electrical panel off the wall and filling the basement with smoke.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindSearsville$5,000In Williamsburg, trees were reported down on North Street, Mountain Road, and Depot Road.
June 2024LightningSearsville$3,000In Williamsburg there was a barn fire due to a lightning strike on Village Rd.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindSearsville$1,500In Williamsburg, there was a tree down blocking Village Hill Rd and there were downed powerlines on Old Chesterfield Rd.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSearsville$300In Williamsburg, powerlines were down on Rt 9.
May 2025HailSearsville-In Williamsburg, one inch hail was reported.
July 2023Flash FloodSearsville-In Williamsburg, Ashfield Rd was flooded up to windows of homes with rescues in progress.
July 2023FloodSearsville-In Williamsburg, a section of Rt 9 had significant street flooding.

Every storm recorded in Hampshire 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
Williamsburg1.0 miles42
Williamsburg Station1.8 miles42
Haydenville3.0 miles42
Goshen4.0 miles38
Leeds4.2 miles42
Bisbee Mill4.3 miles37
Camp Howe4.3 miles38
North Farms4.6 miles42

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 608652. 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.