BlockSouth Ashburnham, Massachusetts
40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Ashburnham town. It lies in ZIP code area 01430. It lies near Baldwin Hill. The Survey maps it on the Gardner quadrangle. 1,136 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 965 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1887 to 1988The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Population over time
2 figuresSouth Ashburnham grew from 1,062 to 1,136 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, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,062 | |
| 2020 | 1,136 | +74 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
20 surveys from 40 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1887 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500
- 1889 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
- 1935 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1936 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:125000
- 1946 USGS Gardner quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:50000
- 1954 USGS Gardner quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Gardner quadrangle1:31680
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1970 USGS Gardner quadrangle1:24000
- 1970 USGS Gardner quadrangle1:25000
- 1975 USGS Gardner quadrangle1:25000
- 1984 USGS Lowell quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS Fitchburg quadrangle1:25000
- 1988 USGS Lowell quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
13,903 words on this townshipHistory of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Ashburnham Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Originally the town of Ashburnham included about one-third of each of the adjoining towns, Ashby and Gardner. It is situated in the northeast corner of Worcester County, and is bounded on the north by New Ipswich and Rindge in New Hampshire; on the east by Ashby, in Middlesex County, and by Fitchburg ; on the south by Westminster and Gardner, and on the west by Winchendon. Since 1792, except the addition of two farms, the gift of Westminster, the boundaries and area of the township have remained unchanged. The present area is about twenty-four thousand five hundred acres, including about one thousand five hundred acres of ponds and reservoirs. Situated in tlie line of the water-slied between the Connecticut and Merrimack Valleys, the course of numerous streams is outward ; the only waters flowing into the town are a few small brooks which have their source in Eindge and New Ipswich on the north. There are eight natural ponds in the town ; four are tributary to the Connecticut and four to the Merrimack River. Here the Souhegan and Squannacook and important branches of the Nashua and Miller's Rivers have their source. The altitude exceeds that of the surrounding country on the east, south and west. The summit on the line of the Chcsline Railroad, one and one-half miles northwest of station at South Ashburnham, is one thousand and eighty-four feet above tide water, while the old burial-ground on Meeting-House Hill exceeds the summit by two hundred feet. The rounded form of Great Watatic on the dividing line between Ashburnham and Ashby, towers to the height of one thousand eight hundred and fortyseven feet. In the north part of the town are several lenticular hills with rounded outlines and arable to the summit. These remarkable accumulations of hill are also found in Rindge, Ashby and Gardner, but only a small proportion of Ashburnham falls within the area of this glacial drift. The soil is tliat common to the hill towns of Worcester County. When placed in comparison it is stubborn and rocky, yet generally arable and productive. The subsoil is clay retentive of moisture, and numerous springs gushing from the hill-sides are the perennial source of brooks and rivulets winding through the valleys, and supporting the crystal lakes nestled among the surrounding hills. The fauna and flora of the locality are topics discussed in the general history of tlie county.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
There have been many firms and individuals engaged in this manufacture in South Ashburnham. The more familiar names are Burgess, Glazier, May, Matthews, Flint, Merriam, Allen, and at present Orange Whitney, Benjamin E. Wetherbee, Irving E. Plaits and Luther B. Adams. An extensive plant is owned and conducted by Wilbur F. Whitney, who has been engaged in the manufacture in this town since 1865. His factory was burned six years ago, and immediately he purchased land at Ashburnham Depot and erected the capacious buildings now occupied by him in the business. The two main factories are respectively 172 by 40 and 150 by 40 feet. This manufacture includes rattan and over 600 patterns of modern styles of cane-seat chairs. Mr. Whitney gives employment to 250 hands, demanding a monthly payroll of $9,000. The annual product is $350,000. The number of cane-seat chairs annually produced is nearly 400,000.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
Ashburnham became a post-town in 1811, and from that date a post-office has been continuously maintained at the central village. Since 1850 there has been a post-office at or near the depot for the accommodation of South Ashburnham. The post-office at North Ashburnham was established in 1854.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Fires near this place
67 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 67 fires within 5 miles of South Ashburnham between 2015 and 2020, burning about 32 acres in total. 1 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 burning | 37 |
| Smoking | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 2 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 30 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 28 August 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 6 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 July 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 July 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 3 July 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 582 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 582 specimens collected within 10 miles of South Ashburnham between 1870 and 1973: 272 Plantae, 231 Animalia, 74 Fungi, 3 Protozoa, 1 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A., A. B. Seymour, A. F. Newton 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 | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Athyrium filix-femina subsp. angustum (Willd.) R.T.Clausen | 1900 | Davenport | Pine Hill; Medford |
 | Carex maritima Gunnerus | 1870 | J. W. Congdon | Wellville |
 | Veronica L. | 1871 | not recorded | |
 | Hylesinus aculeatus Say & T., 1824 | 1872 | unknown | Fitchburg |
 | Carex foenea Willd. | 1878 | W. Boott | Wachusett Mountain |
 | Sibbaldiopsis tridentata (Aiton) Rydb. | 1879 | Bailey, W.W. | summit of Mt. Wachusett |
 | Botrychium multifidum (S.G.Gmel.) Rupr. | 1882 | Manning, Sara M. | Ashby |
 | Drosera rotundifolia L. | 1882 | not recorded | |
 | Linnaea borealis subsp. longiflora (Torrey) Hultén | 1882 | not recorded | |
 | Peltandra virginica (L.) Schott | 1892 | A. | |
| Rosa rubiginosa L. | 1892 | not recorded | ||
| Cylindrosporium chrysanthemi Ellis & Dearn. | 1895 | Seymour A. B. | Fitchburg |
All 582 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of South Ashburnham: 1 past producer. None of them 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lost Lake Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Collier | 1.5 miles | 40 | |
| East Gardner | 2.4 miles | 40 | |
| Ashburnham | 2.4 miles | 46 | |
| Whitmanville | 2.7 miles | 40 | |
| Blackburn Village | 3.3 miles | 46 | |
| Lane Village | 3.5 miles | 46 | |
| Wellville | 3.9 miles | 46 | |
| Old North Ashburnham Station | 3.9 miles | 46 |
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 South Ashburnham | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7566016 | The 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 610144. 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.