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

Seekonk, Massachusetts

37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Seekonk town. It lies in ZIP code area 02771. The Survey maps it on the East Providence quadrangle.

Seekonk within Bristol County

Then and now

1887 to 1987

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 Seekonk, surveyed 1987
Topographic sheet of Seekonk, surveyed 1887

Topographic sheets covering this place

37 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.

In the county-history sources

16,959 words on this township

History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Seekonk Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Seekonk lies in the northwestern part of the county, and is bounded as follows: On the north by Attleborough, on the east by Rehoboth, on the south by Swansea, and on the west by East Providence and Pawtucket. The territory embraced within the present town of Seekonk originally formed a portion of the ancient town of Rehoboth, where the record history, names of early settlers, etc., will be found.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

At this meeting it was also " voted to choose a committee of three to join a committe chosen hy the town of Rehoboth to make a settlement with the late town treasurer, and by vote Messrs. Calvin Martin, James Ellis, and Benjamin Ormsbee were said committee.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

Nov. 12, 1812, it was "voted to choose by nomination a committee of three to divide all public personal property that belongs to the towns of Seekonk and Rehoboth, and poor persons, agreeable to the act of the General Court of this commonwealth incorporating Seekonk, and choose James Ellis, Esq., and Deacon Joseph Bucklin as said committee."

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

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 Seekonk Town - it names this place 49 more 49 times.

Fires near this place

27 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Seekonk between 2006 and 2020, burning about 45 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Arson/incendiarism7
Debris and open burning3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1

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
3 September 2007Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named
21 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named
4 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named
3 July 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named
2 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
14 June 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named
10 June 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named
8 May 2007Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bristol County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,104 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,104 specimens collected within 10 miles of Seekonk between 1844 and 1975: 612 Plantae, 376 Animalia, 90 Fungi, 23 Chromista, 3 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A., A. E. Sears, A. Green 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 Calla palustris, not of this specimenCalla palustris L.1844Thurber, G.
A photograph of the species Hibiscus moscheutos, not of this specimenHibiscus moscheutos subsp. moscheutos1844not recorded
A photograph of the species Pluchea camphorata, not of this specimenPluchea camphorata (L.) DC.1844not recorded
A photograph of the species Chamaecrista fasciculata, not of this specimenChamaecrista fasciculata (Michx.) Greene1846not recorded
A photograph of the species Apocynum cannabinum, not of this specimenApocynum cannabinum L.1855F. C. SeymourRehoboth
A photograph of the species Solidago latissimifolia, not of this specimenSolidago latissimifolia Mill.1867Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Mercenaria mercenaria, not of this specimenMercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758)1870Lermond, NormanProvidence, Narragansett Bay. In market at Providence.
A photograph of the species Carex austrina, not of this specimenCarex austrina Mack.1871S. T. OlneyFields Point, Providence
A photograph of the species Carex muehlenbergii, not of this specimenCarex muehlenbergii Willd.1871S. T. OlneyFields Point
A photograph of the species Carex muskingumensis, not of this specimenCarex muskingumensis Schwein.1871Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Carex swanii, not of this specimenCarex swanii (Fernald) Mack.1871Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Carex tribuloides, not of this specimenCarex tribuloides var. tribuloides1871S. T. Olney

All 1,104 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Seekonk: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Bishops Bend PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
County Street Mine and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
General Road Trucking CorpSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
River Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Bristol County

Storms near this place

16 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Seekonk in 16 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 6 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 1 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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
June 1997LightningSeekonk1 hurtno account filed
June 2008LightningSeekonk$10,000Lightning struck a house, setting it on fire.
August 2003Thunderstorm WindSeekonk$10,000no account filed
June 2024Thunderstorm WindSeekonk$5,000A storm survey indicated a microburst with winds estimated at 100 mph downed and snapped many trees in a wooded area near Seekonk High School and in a school courtyard which caused damage to the roof.
June 2024Tornado (EF1)Seekonk$5,000A tornado touched down in a wooded area west of Steber Way in|Rehoboth, MA. A number of large hardwood and softwood trees were|snapped and uprooted in the woods and in several yards along the|path. Otherwise, there was no significant damage to homes. The|tornado reached a maximum intensity of 90 mph. The maximum width|of the tornado was 50 yards. This was a very short lived tornado|which was only on the ground for one minute.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindSeekonk$5,000Multiple large branches and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSeekonk$500In Seekonk, a tree was down on Arcade Avenue near Valley Street.
July 2021HailSeekonk-In Seekonk, dime size hail was reported.
June 2008FloodSeekonk-Heavy rain resulted in street flooding on multiple streets all across Seekonk.
July 2012HailSeekonk-no account filed
June 2010HailSeekonk-no account filed
June 2008HailSeekonk-no account filed
June 2008HailSeekonk-no account filed
June 2008HailSeekonk-no account filed
May 1998LightningSeekonk-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindSeekonk-no account filed

Every storm 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
Luthers Corners0.1 miles37
Harris1.4 miles37
South Seekonk1.6 miles37
Monroes2.5 miles37
South Rehoboth2.9 miles37
Barneyville3.7 miles37
Miles Bridge3.8 miles37
North Swansea4.8 miles37

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 617220. 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.