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

Smith Mills, Massachusetts

34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Dartmouth town. It lies in ZIP code area 02747. The Survey maps it on the New Bedford North quadrangle. 4,832 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 69 feet above sea level.

Smith Mills within Bristol County

Population over time

2 figures

Smith Mills grew from 4,760 to 4,832 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20104,760
20204,832+72 (+2%)

Then and now

1885 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Smith Mills, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Smith Mills, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

34 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

32,712 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 Dartmouth Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

On the 29th day of November, 1652, the Indian chief Wesamequan (better known as Massasoit) and his son Wamsutta (who was sometimes called Alexander by the English) conveyed by deed to William Bradford, Capt. Standish, Thomas Southworth, John Winslow, John Cooke, and their associates all the tract or tracts of land lying three miles eastward from a river called Cushenegg to a certain harbor called Acoaksett to a flat rock on the westward side of the said harbor. In this conveyance was included all the land within these boundaries, " with all the rivers, creeks, meadows, necks, and islands that lie in and before the same, and from the sea upward to go so high that the English may not be annoyed by the hunting of the Indians in any sort of their cattle."

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

This large tract of land, comprising the limits of old Dartmouth, was divided into thirty-four parts or shares. Two of these were sub-divided, so that the original proprietors numbered thirty-six persons, of whom three were women, - Sarah Brewster, Miss Jennings, and Sarah Warren.

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

The origin of the name of this town is a matter of conjecture, yet the inference is an easy and natural one. The " Mayflower" and " Speedwell," the latter having taken on board her priceless freight at Leyden, in Holland, sailed from Plymouth, in Old England, and that name was given to the spot where they landed in New England. After the vessels left Plymouth, England, a disaster occurred to the "Speedwell" which compelled both vessels to put back, and they made a harbor in the seaport town of Dartmouth, in the British Channel. Many of the original purchasers and some of the early settlers of the town came in the " Mayflower," and the name of Dartmouth was so associated in their minds with the home left behind that it may naturally be presumed it furnished them with the name for their new home. There is a further coincidence connected with the name. The little vessel, the "Concord," which brought Bartholomew Gosnold to our shores in 1602 belonged to Dartmouth, in England. There can be no doubt but that we derive our name from this fishing town on the river Dart in the English Channel. How wonderful the change since then ! While the present old Dartmouth has an aggregate population of thirty-seven thousand, with a commerce known over the whole globe, the old town in England, with a population of less than five thousand, is as little known to-day as it was two hundred years ago.

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 Dartmouth Town.

Fires near this place

33 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 33 fires within 5 miles of Smith Mills between 2001 and 2020, burning about 19 acres in total. None 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Debris and open burning10
Fireworks2
Recreation and ceremony2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
22 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
15 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 August 2020Debris and open burning1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2016Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 August 2020Fireworksunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
11 August 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 Bristol County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 2,147 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,147 specimens collected within 10 miles of Smith Mills between 1824 and 1975: 984 Animalia, 550 Fungi, 530 Plantae, 62 Chromista, 18 Bacteria, 3 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Gridley, A. Clark, A. F. Faull 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 Gamochaeta purpurea, not of this specimenGamochaeta purpurea (L.) Cabrera1824T. A. Greene
A photograph of the species Lythrum salicaria, not of this specimenLythrum salicaria L.1831T. A. Greene
A photograph of the species Mentha aquatica, not of this specimenMentha aquatica L.1831Collector unknownNew Bedford. [Inferred county from precise loc.]
A photograph of the species Trypethelium virens, not of this specimenTrypethelium virens Tuck.1848ex herb. OakesNew Bedford.
A photograph of the species Ranunculus bulbosus, not of this specimenRanunculus bulbosus L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Vitis labrusca, not of this specimenVitis labrusca L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Endocarpon pusillum, not of this specimenEndocarpon pusillum Hedw.1858H. WilleyFort Phoenix. Fairhaven.
A photograph of the species Menegazzia terebrata, not of this specimenMenegazzia terebrata (Hoffm.) A.Massal.1860H. WilleyNew Bedford
A photograph of the species Pandion haliaetus, not of this specimenPandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758)1860Alan PooleWestport, Westport River, Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary
A photograph of the species Scolopax minor, not of this specimenScolopax minor J.F.Gmelin, 17891860Alan PooleWestport
A photograph of the species Abrothallus parmeliarum, not of this specimenAbrothallus parmeliarum (Sommerf.) Nyl., 18691862Willey H.Weymouth, New Bedford
A photograph of the species Agyrium rufum, not of this specimenAgyrium rufum (Pers.) Fr.1862Willey HenryNew Bedford

All 2,147 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Smith Mills: 7 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Blue Stone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Clearwater Stone IncStonePast Producer
Clearwater Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dartmouth PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dartmouth Town PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Louis Fernandez Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Medeiros Washed Sand & Stone PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pine Hill Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Westport DivisionSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working 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
Summit Grove0.3 miles34
Idlewood0.6 miles34
Kempton Croft1.0 miles31
North Dartmouth1.1 miles34
University Highlands1.1 miles37
Rockdale1.9 miles34
Westview Park2.0 miles34
Mount Pleasant2.6 miles34

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Smith MillsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7545230The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 613755. 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.