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

Somerville, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Somerville City. It lies in ZIP code area 02143. It stands on Prospect Hill. The Survey maps it on the Boston North quadrangle. 81,045 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 13 feet above sea level.

Somerville within Middlesex County

Population over time

3 figures

Somerville grew from 3,540 to 81,045 between 1850 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
18503,540
201075,754
202081,045+5,291 (+7%)

Then and now

1893 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Somerville, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Somerville, surveyed 1893

Topographic sheets covering this place

46 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

55,107 words on this township

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Somerville City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The surface is uneven, and rises into no less than eight considerable elevations, of which Prospect, Winter, Spring, and Central hills, and Mount Benedict are the principal. The soil is various, and in many places excellent for cultivation. Good sand for building purposes is abundant, and a vein of clay, suitable for brickmaking, underlies much of the surface. The only stratified rock to be found in Somerville is slate. The intrusive rocks, cropping out in numerous ledges, in which occur an unusual variety of minerals, are entirely diabase. The formation is particularly rich in dikes.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

At the founding of Charlestown in 1628, and for the first ten years, the area of the peninsula generally sufficed for the wants of the settlers; but when, in 1637, land became so scarce within the neck tiiat new-comers were rarely granted more than a citizensliip, purchases were made of the Indians, and settlements began to extend upon the mainland. Tiie territory north and east of the Charles River was then owned by the Pawtucket Indians ; and by payment of thirty-six shillings in 16-37, and twenty-one coats, nineteen fathoms of wampum, and three bushels of corn, two years later to Squa Sachem and Webcowit, rulers of the tribe, the latter were well satisfied to relinquish to the town of Charlestown all the territory that is now Somerville. A few settlers had established themselves on the mainland from the earliest period.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

In 1631 Governor Winthrop was granted six hundred acres on the Mystic Eiver, to which, from the ten elevations upon it, he gave the name of Tlie Ten Hills Farm. Here he had built a house, at some time previous, which was supposed by Savage to liave been the governor's country residence. The mansion-house, recently demolished, is presumed to have marked the site of tliis earlier building.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

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 Somerville City - it names this place 110 more 110 times.

Fires near this place

81 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 81 fires within 5 miles of Somerville between 2015 and 2020, burning about 109 acres in total. None started naturally. 29 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
Arson/incendiarism29
Missing data/not specified/undetermined21
Recreation and ceremony12
Debris and open burning11
Smoking6
Equipment and vehicle use1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROOKLINE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,857 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,857 specimens collected within 10 miles of Somerville between 1898 and 1975: 821 Animalia, 572 Plantae, 400 Fungi, 27 Protozoa, 17 Bacteria, 12 Chromista, 8 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A B. Proper 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 Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Boletellus russellii, not of this specimenBoletellus russellii (Frost) E.-J.Gilbert1898H. Webster
A photograph of the species Boletus peckii, not of this specimenBoletus peckii Frost1898H. WebsterEdge of Reservation
A photograph of the species Boletus speciosus, not of this specimenBoletus speciosus Frost1898J. R. Webster
A photograph of the species Bulbostylis capillaris, not of this specimenBulbostylis capillaris var. crebra Fernald1898C. H. KnowltonBoston.
A photograph of the species Cantharellus cinnabarinus, not of this specimenCantharellus cinnabarinus (Schwein.) Schwein.1898not recordedNewton.
A photograph of the species Cantharellus infundibuliformis, not of this specimenCantharellus infundibuliformis (Scop.) Fr.1898not recordedMelrose.
A photograph of the species Chimaphila maculata, not of this specimenChimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh1898Nathaniel T. KidderMilton
A photograph of the species Cladonia coccifera, not of this specimenCladonia coccifera (L.) Willd.1898Francis P DanielsCambridge
A photograph of the species Acanthis flammea, not of this specimenAcanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus, 1758)1900ZAPPEY, W RROSLINDALE
A photograph of the species Acer carpinifolium, not of this specimenAcer carpinifolium Siebold & Zucc.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.

All 1,857 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Somerville: 9 plants, 2 past producers, 1 producer. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Lead, Gypsum-Anhydrite, 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
(Facility) Vulcan Smelter--Chelsea, Ma.Copper, LeadPlant
C. J. MabardySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Malden QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Syncor Prdts Co--Malden, Ma.SilicaPlant
Us Gypsum Co--BostonGypsum-AnhydritePast Producer
Whittemore Prdts Inc--BostonPerlitePlant
(Facility) Cambridge Smelter CoLeadPlant
General Metals & Smelting--BostonLeadPlant
Industrial Serv. Centers--CambridgeIronPlant
Somerville Smelting Co.LeadPlant

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this place

7 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Somerville in 7 storm reports between 2006 and 2021: 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 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 2014FloodSomerville$30,000Water flooded Medford Street up to the roof of a vehicle. Two vehicles were stuck in flood waters on Medford Street. In addition, a large sinkhole opened up as a result of the flooding. This resulted in the street closing through Wednesday, December 10 while crews figured out how to repair the sinkhole.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindSomerville$10,000no account filed
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSomerville$4,000At 427 PM EST, a member of the public reported several trees uprooted in the Winter Hill section of Somerville.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSomerville$1,500At 428 PM EST, a tree and wires were reported down on Heath Street in Somerville.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSomerville$1,500At 429 PM EST, a tree and wires were downed on Bow Street in Medford.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSomerville$500In Somerville, a tree was down on the 40 block of Derby St.
October 2018FloodSomerville-Water bursting out of manhole covers on Mystic Avenue, south of Route 16.

Every storm recorded in Middlesex 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
Spring Hill0.5 miles46
Winter Hill0.6 miles46
East Somerville0.7 miles46
Ten Hills0.9 miles46
Cambridge0.9 miles46
Old Cambridge1.1 miles46
Avon Hill1.3 miles46
West Somerville1.4 miles46

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 SomervilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q49199The 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 612815. 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.