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Spencer, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Spencer town. It lies in ZIP code area 01562. It stands on Turkey Hill Brook. The Survey maps it on the Leicester quadrangle. 5,810 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 856 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Spencer within Worcester County

Then and now

1889 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Spencer, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Spencer, surveyed 1889

On record in Spencer

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 7 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 12 of 32 shown

Every atlas business in Worcester County

Population over time

2 figures

Spencer grew from 5,700 to 5,810 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.

YearPeople Change
20105,700
20205,810+110 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 42 printed 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

22,376 words on this township

History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Spencer Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

History whex a Part of Leicester. - As Spencer was originally a part of the town of Leicester, its early history would be incomplete without speaking briefly of the mother township, from its purchase until the separation between it and Leicester took place. In the latter part of the seventeenth century certain gentlemen, known as "proprietors," purchased large tracts of land within what is now Worcester County, to settle " plantations " thereon, and it is reasonable to suppose, as a speculative venture also. These purchases were made upon conditions that a "certain number of families, within a certain number of years, shall there be located, and a sufticieut quantity of land thereof shall be reserved for the Gospel ministry and a school." In this manner, and upon like conditions, was purchased a " tract of land, eight miles square, lying near the new town of the English, called Worcester, to be called Leicester and to belong to the County of Middlesex." The deed of this tract was from the heirs of Oraskaso, "sachem of a place called Tontaid," and was dated the twenty-si.xth day of January, Anno Domini one thousand six hundred and eightysix.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.

This, then, was the first step taken towards settling this wilderness, and the history of Spencer must necessarily date from this purchase, although it was fifty years or more before the division was had which made it a separate and distinct town.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.

An early meeting of these gentlemen was called to enter into and consummate arrangements for settling a part of this grant, and it was decided that the East half should be used for this purpose, while the West half should be retained by the " proprietors." Thus, early in the history of the town, the two sections came to be known as the East, or settlers' half, which is now Leicester, and the West, or proprietors' half, now Spencer.

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.

Read the whole chapter on Spencer Town - it names this place 42 more 42 times.

Fires near this place

64 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 64 fires within 5 miles of Spencer between 2015 and 2020, burning about 43 acres in total. None started naturally. 8 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
Recreation and ceremony16
Arson/incendiarism8
Equipment and vehicle use5
Smoking5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Other causes1
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
2 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 August 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 August 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 August 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 July 2016Debris and open burningunder 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 near this place

12 of 1,477 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,477 specimens collected within 10 miles of Spencer between 1839 and 1975: 915 Plantae, 314 Animalia, 229 Fungi, 16 Unrecorded, 2 Protozoa, 1 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 Carex tenera var. teneraCarex tenera var. tenera1899R. M. Harper
Specimen of Pooecetes gramineus gramineus (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)Pooecetes gramineus gramineus (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)1900Roscoe I. Giles
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 Tamias striatus, not of this specimenTamias striatus lysteri (Richardson, 1829)1848L AgassizPARSONS ISLAND
A photograph of the species Cladonia cornucopioides, not of this specimenCladonia cornucopioides F.Wilson1850J. L. RussellLeicester
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
Elymus repens (L.) Gould1892Arthur B. SeymourCambridge.
Festuca pratensis Huds.1892Arthur B. SeymourCambridge.

All 1,477 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Spencer: 5 past producers. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Highway PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Kittredge PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Lyford Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Town of SpencerSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Vandale PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms near this place

28 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Spencer in 28 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 15 thunderstorm wind, 5 lightning, 5 hail, 2 flash flood. The reports record 2 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
September 2013LightningSpencer2 hurtLightning struck near a house on Bay Path Road. While several homeowners claimed to have experienced electrical problems with the lightning strike, firefighters found no damage within the houses. Two teenagers (one male, one female) outside manning a yard sale felt the lightning shock. One (male) declined transportation to the hospital, the other (female) was transported and kept overnight for observation.
June 2023LightningSpencer$800,000Lightning caused a massive 6-alarm fire that destroyed a 160-year old church in Spencer, MA. The steeple of the First Congregational United Church came crashing down and this made national news. The rest of the building was destroyed. A detailed analysis of lightning strike data showed that one strike a little north of the church occurred at 2:24:47 PM EDT but a closer one occurred at 2:29:16 PM EDT. That was most likely the one that caused the blaze. No injuries were reported. Damage figure is estimated.
May 2006LightningSpencer$100,000no account filed
June 2011Thunderstorm WindSpencer$15,000A CoCoRaHS observer recorded a 60 mph wind gust on their home weather station. A trained spotter reported eight inch diameter limbs downed along Browning Pond Road at the same time.
May 2004LightningSpencer$10,000no account filed
February 2016Thunderstorm WindSpencer$5,000A two foot diameter tree and wires on Wilson Road in Spencer were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindSpencer$5,000A tree on Chickering Road was downed onto wires by thunderstorm winds.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindSpencer$5,000A tree on Chickering Road and Kingsbury Road was downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2006Flash FloodSpencer$5,000no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindSpencer$3,800In Spencer, a tree was down on a house on Ash Street. Also, a tree was down on wires on School Street.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindNorth Spencer$1,000At 2:37 PM EST, wind brought a large tree down on Browning Pond Road at the Oakham town line.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindSpencer$1,000A piece of siding was blown off a house on Irving Street.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindSpencer$1,000A one foot diameter tree on Greenville Street was downed by thunderstorm winds.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindSpencer$800In Spencer, a tree was down on wires near Church St.
July 2019Flash FloodSouth Spencer-More than three feet of street flooding occurred on South Spencer Road near the railroad overpass at Lyford Cross Road in Spencer, MA. The road was impassable.
July 2019FloodSpencer-Pleasant Street in Spencer was flooded an impassable, with manhole covers popped off.
June 2017HailSpencer-At 256 PM EST, an amateur radio operator reported nickel-size hail at Spencer.
June 2017HailSpencer-At 258 PM EST, an amateur radio operator reported nickel-size hail covering the ground in Spencer.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindSpencer-Trees down in the North End of Spencer.
October 2007Thunderstorm WindSpencer-Wires were downed by thunderstorm winds in Spencer.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindSpencer-Several thunderstorms moved south-southeast through Franklin and Worcester Counties. These storms became severe in several communities. Large hail fell at scattered locations including one-inch diameter hail at the National Weather Service Office at the Worcester Municipal Airport. In some places, marble-size hail was reported covering the ground a half-hour after the storm had ended. A couple of school children reportedly received bruises on their arms from the hailstones. A National Weather Service damage survey in Spencer confirmed that trees one foot in diameter were uprooted by thunderstorm wind gusts.
May 2014HailSpencer-no account filed
June 2011HailSpencer-no account filed
June 2002HailSpencer-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindSpencer-no account filed
July 1999LightningSpencer-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindSpencer-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindSpencer-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
Sibleys Corner1.0 miles42
Lower Wire Village1.4 miles42
Hillsville1.5 miles32
Proctors corner1.6 miles42
Tafts Corner1.9 miles42
South Spencer2.1 miles33
Upper Wire Village2.1 miles42
Lambs Grove2.5 miles42

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 SpencerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7575971The 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 610417. 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.