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

Sheffield, Massachusetts

43 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Sheffield town. It lies in ZIP code area 01257. It stands on Schenob Brook. The Survey maps it on the Ashley Falls quadrangle.

Sheffield within Berkshire County

Then and now

1885 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 112 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Sheffield, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Sheffield, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

43 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.

Photographs

4 photographs,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

General John Ashley House (Doorway), Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
General John Ashley House (Doorway), Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress
Congregational Church, Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
Congregational Church, Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress
Colonel John Ashley House, Cooper Road vicinity, Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
Colonel John Ashley House, Cooper Road vicinity, Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress
Parker L. Hall Law Office, State Route 7, Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
Parker L. Hall Law Office, State Route 7, Sheffield, Berkshire County, MA
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Fires nearby

28 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Sheffield between 2015 and 2020, burning about 54 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
Debris and open burning18
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Equipment and vehicle use2
Arson/incendiarism1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
13 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreConnecticut Division of ForestryCLAYTON ROAD NORTH CANAAN
9 July 2019Equipment and vehicle use10 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 May 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
16 May 2016Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
30 April 2015Debris and open burning10 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
29 April 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
29 April 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Berkshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,242 shown

Museums hold 1,242 specimens collected within 10 miles of Sheffield between 1860 and 1974: 1,031 Plantae, 159 Animalia, 50 Fungi, 1 Chromista, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. Brown, A. L. Ericson, A. Lorenz 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 Equisetum sylvaticum L.Equisetum sylvaticum L.1900Day, M.E.Sheffield.
A photograph of the species Percopsis omiscomaycus, not of this specimenPercopsis omiscomaycus (Walbaum, 1792)1860Britton McCabeGreen R. (trib. of Housatonic R.), 1 mi. S of Great Barrington on Rt. 23
A photograph of the species Carex vesicaria, not of this specimenCarex vesicaria L.1878L. H. HoysradtMt. Everett.
A photograph of the species Euphorbia polygonifolia, not of this specimenEuphorbia polygonifolia L.1879not recorded
A photograph of the species Chordeiles minor, not of this specimenChordeiles minor minor (J.R.Forster, 1771)1883Collector(s): H. C. Johnsonnear New Marlboro
A photograph of the species Juncus tenuis, not of this specimenJuncus tenuis Willd.1884J. BallGreat Barrington
A photograph of the species Solidago caesia, not of this specimenSolidago caesia L.1884J. BallGreat Barrington
A photograph of the species Anthoceros laevis, not of this specimenAnthoceros laevis L.1887UnknownSheffield
A photograph of the species Diphyscium foliosum, not of this specimenDiphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr1897Elizabeth G. BrittonMount Washington
Gyrostachys ochroleuca Rydb.1897Mrs. LongMt. Washington
A photograph of the species Hylocomium splendens, not of this specimenHylocomium splendens (Hedw.) Schimp.1897Elizabeth G. BrittonBashbish Falls
A photograph of the species Neckera besseri, not of this specimenNeckera besseri (Lobarz.) Jur.1897E. G. BrittonBashbish Falls

All 1,242 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

4 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Sheffield: 2 past producers, 1 prospect, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
Spurr ProspectIronProspect
Canaan PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Canaan PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Mill River PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Berkshire County

Storms nearby

21 since 1997

The National Weather Service names Sheffield in 21 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 14 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 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
June 2001Thunderstorm WindSheffield$27,000no account filed
July 2000Flash FloodSheffield$15,000no account filed
March 2008FloodSheffield$4,000Heavy rainfall led to flooding in portions of Berkshire county. This led to many road closures, including main roads in Sheffield, and several secondary roads in Egremont Plain and Richmond.||In addition, flooding was reported along the Green River near Great Barrington.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindSheffield$4,000no account filed
September 2025Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Multiple trees were downed in Sheffield.
September 2025HailSheffield-Hail around ping pong ball size, 1.50 inches, was reported near Sheffield.
March 2022Thunderstorm WindSheffield-A tree was reported down.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Trees were reported down on wires.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Trees were downed in Sheffield.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Trees were downed.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Trees and wires downed.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindSheffield-A tree was downed on Boardman Street.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindSheffield-A tree and wires were downed onto a house.
July 2014Flash FloodSheffield-Heavy rainfall from repeated thunderstorms led to flash flooding in Sheffield. South Undermountain Road was washed out as a result of the flooding.
July 2014HailSheffield-Quarter size hail was reported during a thunderstorm in Sheffield.
September 2012Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Trees and wires were reported down due to thunderstorm winds in Sheffield.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Multiple trees and wires were reported down in Sheffield due to strong thunderstorm winds.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindSheffield-Trees and wires were reported down in Sheffield due to strong thunderstorm winds.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindSheffield-A tree was reported down in Sheffield at 2012 EST due to strong thunderstorm winds.
July 2005Flash FloodSheffield-no account filed
June 2000HailSheffield-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Berkshire 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
Ashley Falls3.9 miles43
Brookside4.0 miles40
Mill River4.6 miles43
South Egremont4.7 miles42
East Sheffield5.2 miles43
Gomorrah5.5 miles43
Berkshire Heights5.5 miles40
Clayton5.6 miles43

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 607710. 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.