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

South Commons, Massachusetts

38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Quincy City. It lies in ZIP code area 02169. It stands on Penns Hill. The Survey maps it on the Weymouth quadrangle.

South Commons within Norfolk County

Then and now

1885 to 1984

The same ground, surveyed 99 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of South Commons, surveyed 1984
Topographic sheet of South Commons, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

38 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

333 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 333 fires within 5 miles of South Commons between 2015 and 2020, burning about 160 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
Recreation and ceremony202
Smoking49
Missing data/not specified/undetermined37
Debris and open burning36
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Fireworks3
Equipment and vehicle use2

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
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWEYMOUTH
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
5 September 2016Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlQUINCY
5 September 2015Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWEYMOUTH
4 September 2016Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlHINGHAM
29 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
29 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlWEYMOUTH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Norfolk County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 9,684 shown

Museums hold 9,684 specimens collected within 10 miles of South Commons between 1810 and 1975: 5,107 Plantae, 2,504 Animalia, 1,600 Fungi, 298 Chromista, 107 Protozoa, 50 Unrecorded, 18 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by (MARSDEN, H W), A C Gibson, A Loveridge 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 Lysimachia × producta (A.Gray) FernaldLysimachia × producta (A.Gray) Fernald1900A. P. Chute
A photograph of the species Thalictrum L., not of this specimenThalictrum L.1810Boott, J.W.Near Boston.
A photograph of the species Anemone L., not of this specimenAnemone L.1815Boott, J.Andover Turnpike, 7 miles from Boston.
Ericaceae1815BoottBoston, U.S.A.
A photograph of the species Limonium vulgare, not of this specimenLimonium vulgare Mill.1815not recordedOn Cragies Road [=near Cragies Bridge], 1 1/2 miles from Boston.
A photograph of the species Mollugo verticillata, not of this specimenMollugo verticillata L.1815Boott, F.M.B.Boston.
A photograph of the species Persicaria Mill., not of this specimenPersicaria (L.) Mill.1815Boott, J.W.Craigie's Road, 2 miles from Boston.
A photograph of the species Ranunculus L., not of this specimenRanunculus L.1815not recordedThicket at South Boston.
Cistaceae1816Boott, J.W.Boston.
Dianthus armeria L.1816Boott, J.Boston.
A photograph of the species Fallopia Adans., not of this specimenFallopia Adans.1816Boott, J.W.Andover Turnpike, near Boston. N. America.
A photograph of the species Paronychia Mill., not of this specimenParonychia Mill.1816Boott, J.W.Andover Turnpike, near Boston. N. America.

All 9,684 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 19 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of South Commons: 10 producers, 9 past producers. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Granite. 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
Bates Brothers Seam Face Granite CoGranitePast ProducerGranite
Marshfield Sand and GravelGranitePast ProducerGranite
Old Colony Crushed StoneGranitePast ProducerGranite
Plymouth QuarriesGranitePast ProducerGranite
Weymouth QuarryGraniteProducer
Bates Brothers Realty Trust QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Bristol Pit & Plant LorussoStone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Ernest Minelli Inc QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Hingham PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Margetts QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Norfolk 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
Quincy Point0.7 miles38
Old Boat Point0.8 miles38
Quincy Neck0.9 miles38
East Braintree1.1 miles38
South Quincy1.1 miles42
Braintree1.2 miles38
Quincy Center1.3 miles42
Quincy1.4 miles46

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 613425. 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.