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

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

44 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Shrewsbury town. It lies in ZIP code area 01545. It stands on Golden Hill. The Survey maps it on the Shrewsbury quadrangle.

Shrewsbury within Worcester County

Then and now

1887 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 102 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Shrewsbury, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Shrewsbury, surveyed 1887

Topographic sheets covering this place

44 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

45 since 2002

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 45 fires within 5 miles of Shrewsbury between 2002 and 2020, burning about 19 acres in total. None started naturally. 6 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 burning22
Smoking8
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Arson/incendiarism6
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
2 September 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 September 2016Smoking3.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 August 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 August 2017Debris and open burning1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
13 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 July 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 July 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
10 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,733 shown

Museums hold 1,733 specimens collected within 10 miles of Shrewsbury between 1839 and 1974: 950 Plantae, 532 Animalia, 227 Fungi, 14 Unrecorded, 6 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.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) LyonSceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon1899H. H. Scudder
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia tartarea, not of this specimenOchrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal.1839E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Carex laxiflora, not of this specimenCarex laxiflora Lam.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Carex vestita, not of this specimenCarex vestita Willd.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Mycobilimbia hypnorum, not of this specimenMycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner1848E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Geranium maculatum, not of this specimenGeranium maculatum L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Packera aurea, not of this specimenPackera aurea (L.) Á.Löve & D.Löve1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Carex aperta, not of this specimenCarex aperta Boott1853W. BoottMassachusetts
A photograph of the species Cladrastis tinctoria, not of this specimenCladrastis tinctoria Raf.1856AnonymousCambridge.
A photograph of the species Castilleja coccinea, not of this specimenCastilleja coccinea (L.) Spreng.1892E. C. SmithMarboro.
Elymus repens (L.) Gould1892Arthur B. SeymourCambridge.
Festuca pratensis Huds.1892Arthur B. SeymourCambridge.

All 1,733 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

8 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Shrewsbury: 5 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone. 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
Shrewsbury Trap RockStoneProducer
30 Southwest Cutoff PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
F Ang G Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
F and G PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Sewall PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Shrewsbury PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of BoylstonSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Worcester Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms nearby

22 since 1995

The National Weather Service names Shrewsbury in 22 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 10 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 4 flood, 2 flash flood. The reports record 3 injuries. 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 1996LightningShrewsbury3 hurtno account filed
August 2008Flash FloodShrewsbury$100,000In Shrewsbury, Route 9 from the Worcester/Shrewsbury line to Route 140 was flooded. In Worcester, flash flooding resulted in motorists being rescued from their cars and homeowners trying to get water out of their basements. Sunderland Road and Bowman Lane were both closed due to flooding, while Lake Street had three feet of water standing in the street. Water on a side street to Hamilton Street overtopped the roof of a car stalled in the road. Flood waters inundated at least 70 basements with water standing 12 to 18 inches deep.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury$20,000no account filed
May 2009HailShrewsbury$15,000Golfball size hail fell in Shrewsbury denting cars.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury$15,000no account filed
August 2009Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury$10,000Sixteen inch diameter trees on Holden Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury$10,000Trees were downed by thunderstorm winds in Shrewsbury. Trees and wires were downed on Cona Avenue in Dudley.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury$5,000A tree and tree limbs on Hutchins Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSouth Shrewsbury$1,000In Shrewsbury, two trees were down at the intersection of Hillando Drive and Walnut Street.
June 2017FloodSouth Shrewsbury$1,000At 226 PM EST, significant flooding was reported on Oak Street in Shrewsbury.
August 2023FloodShrewsbury-In Shrewsbury, town hall near the police department was flooded. Municiple Dr was also flooded.
June 2019HailShrewsbury-There were two reports of hail in Shrewsbury MA. One-inch diameter hail fell at 12:45 PM EST, and three-quarter inch hail fell at 12:43 PM.
September 2018Flash FloodSouth Shrewsbury-At 12:36 PM EST, Floral Street in Shrewsbury was flooded and impassable.
October 2017FloodSouth Shrewsbury-State Route 9 at Saybrook Road in Shrewsbury was flooded. Route 9 interchange with State Route 20...the off-ramp is flooded with cars trapped.
May 2009Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury-An amateur radio operator estimated 70 mph winds in Shrewsbury. This occurred at the same time as golfball sized hail that dented cars.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury-Trees were downed in Sutton, Shrewsbury, and Northborough.
June 2013HailShrewsbury-no account filed
May 2010HailShrewsbury-no account filed
August 2003HailShrewsbury-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury-no account filed
June 1996FloodShrewsbury-no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindShrewsbury-no account filed

Every storm 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
South Shrewsbury1.4 miles44
Fairlawn2.1 miles44
Morningdale2.7 miles45
Lakeview3.2 miles45
Great Brook Valley3.2 miles45
Edgemere3.6 miles45
Pinecrest3.6 miles45
Beverly Road3.7 miles45

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 610909. 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.