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Stoughton, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Stoughton town. It lies in ZIP code area 02072. The Survey maps it on the Blue Hills quadrangle.

Research this city

Stoughton within Norfolk County

Then and now

1886 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Stoughton, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Stoughton, surveyed 1886

On record in Stoughton

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 2 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 5 records

Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 12 of 14 shown

Every atlas business in Norfolk County

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

24,931 words on this township

History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884 names this settlement in its chapter on Stoughton Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Amrpst the pealing of bells, the roll of drums, the thunder of cannon, and the inspiring strains of martial music the one hundredth anniversary of American independence is ushered in, the most memorable day of the nineteenth century. A whole country from the rugged shores of Maine to the golden sands of California, multitudinous cities born since the and dwell upon its associations. Taking its name from Governor William Stoughton, it included originally a much larger section than it at present comprises. The territory embraced at the time of incorporation, together with a part of Wrentham, had in with astonishing celerity, small villages remote from the whirl and excitement of business, all join in celebrating the occasion. The anthem of liberty wakes echoes in the hut of the squatter in Western wilds not less than in the luxurious homes of crowded cities.

Passage source: History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884.

From that date until December, 1726, it was called the Dorchester South Precinct, a part having been set off to Wrentham in the year 1724. The town of Stoughton was incorporated on the 22d day of December, 1726. of the Revolution, was four years old, and John It included the present towns of Canton, Sharon, and Stoughton, and nearly if not quite all of Foxborough and about one-quarter of Dedham. In those days the law of subtraction rather than annexation prevailed. The act of incorporation is entitled an "' Act for dividing there by the name of Stoughton." The preamble sets forth that " The town of Dorchester within the county of Suffolk is of great extent in length, and lies commodious for two townships, and the South Precinct within the bounds of Dorchester is competently filled said lands may be made a distinct and separate town- Then follows the act of incorporation, to which is attached a condition, making it incumbent in which the sons of those sires who, then united, hurled the British invader from our shores, now, arrayed against each other, fought the one side to devalor, for when Greek meets Greek then comes the tug of war.

Passage source: History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884.

A classified list of the persons taxed in the ancient town of Stoughton for the year 1776 shows that one hundred and forty-two lived in what is now called* Stoughton. Samuel Capen, Samuel Paul, Robert Swan, and Nathaniel Wales are familiar names in the list.

Passage source: History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884.

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 Stoughton Town - it names this place 71 more 71 times.

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Boston & Providence Railroad, Stoughton Station, 53 Wyman Street, Stoughton, Norfolk County, MA
Boston & Providence Railroad, Stoughton Station, 53 Wyman Street, Stoughton, Norfolk County, MA
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

267 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 267 fires within 5 miles of Stoughton between 2015 and 2020, burning about 82 acres in total. None 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 burning82
Missing data/not specified/undetermined76
Recreation and ceremony59
Smoking33
Misuse of fire by a minor14
Arson/incendiarism1
Other causes1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROCKTON
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROCKTON
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSTOUGHTON
6 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
6 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSHARON
5 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSHARON
4 September 2017Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Norfolk County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 5,829 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 5,829 specimens collected within 10 miles of Stoughton between 1832 and 1975: 2,585 Plantae, 1,607 Animalia, 1,469 Fungi, 132 Protozoa, 19 Chromista, 13 Unrecorded, 4 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by (MARSDEN, H W), ?, A W Cheever 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 Clethra alnifolia L.Clethra alnifolia L.1900J. G. Hall
Specimen of Lysimachia × producta (A.Gray) FernaldLysimachia × producta (A.Gray) Fernald1900A. P. Chute
A photograph of the species Cornus sericea, not of this specimenCornus sericea subsp. sericea1832Nathaniel T. KidderMilton, Brook Road
A photograph of the species Galium verum, not of this specimenGalium verum L.1846Kupell
A photograph of the species Carex bullata, not of this specimenCarex bullata Schkuhr1853Collector unknownHoughtons Pond.
A photograph of the species Carex albicans, not of this specimenCarex albicans Willd. ex Spreng.1854W. BoottWest Quincy: Blue Hills Reservation, River Road
A photograph of the species Chamberlainia salebrosa, not of this specimenChamberlainia salebrosa (Hoffm. ex F.Weber & D.Mohr) H.Rob.1857T. P. JamesRandolph
A photograph of the species Carex swanii, not of this specimenCarex swanii (Fernald) Mack.1870Joseph BlakeSharon
A photograph of the species Chamaecyparis thyoides, not of this specimenChamaecyparis thyoides (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.1870Joseph BlakeSharon
Chantransia hermannii (Roth) Desvaux1870F. W. Dewart
A photograph of the species Pyrenopsis phylliscina, not of this specimenPyrenopsis phylliscina (Tuck.) Tuck.1870H. WilleyWest Quincy.
A photograph of the species Rhynchospora macrostachya, not of this specimenRhynchospora macrostachya Torr. ex A.Gray1870Booth, W.South Weymouth

All 5,829 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Stoughton: 9 past producers, 3 producers, 1 unknown, 1 occurrence. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Iron. 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
Thorn Mountain ProspectIronOccurrence
Simeone Stone CorpStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Stoughton QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
A A Will Materials CordSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
A Edward SarniSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Avon Building Supply CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Avon Building Supply Inc.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Boston Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Canton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Canton Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Norfolk County

Storms near this place

19 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Stoughton in 19 storm reports between 1999 and 2023: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 4 lightning, 3 flash 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
June 2009LightningWest Stoughton$500,000Lightning struck the roof of a condo at Knollsbrook Condominiums. The resultant fire spread to two other units. Three firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and dehydration while fighting the fire. One was transported to the hospital. These injuries were indirectly related to the lightning strike.
July 2008LightningStoughton$150,000A house on Christie Murphy Drive in Stoughton was struck by lightning and caught fire. The home was left uninhabitable.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindStoughton$50,000Trees and wires on Morton Street and Bay Road were downed onto wires by thunderstorms. One of the trees struck a house on Bay Road.
August 2012Flash FloodWest Stoughton$35,000A car was trapped in floodwaters on Independence Avenue in Quincy. In Weymouth, Fogg Street was flooded with several inches of water at the entrance to the South Shore Emergency Room entrance. Columbian Street at Nevin Road was flooded with four feet of water. Bodwell Drive in Avon was flooded with several cars stuck in flood waters. Several feet of water on Route 37 in Braintree near the Mutual gas station closed the road. A car was stuck in flood waters at the intersection of Union Street and Grossman Drive. In Stoughton, three to four inches of water flooded the travel lanes on Route 27.
May 2013Tornado (EF0)Stoughton$20,000A tornado touched down at a car dealership on Route 138 in Stoughton where it was captured by a security camera and recorded on several employees cell phone cameras. Three RV trailers, weighing about 5000 pounds each, were pushed back about 6 feet against a chain link fence. One trailer was lifted about 15 feet into a light pole but landed on its wheels with minimal damage. An aluminum door about 20 feet high and 15 feet wide was blown out of the service garage. Eyewitnesses reported ceiling tiles being lifted inside the dealership as the tornado passed overhead. The tornado entered a wooded area just to the northeast of the dealership. Roughly one quarter of a mile away on Erica Drive and Dean Road, two large pine trees were downed before the tornado dissipated.
July 2008LightningStoughton$15,000A house on Daly Drive in Stoughton was struck by lightning leaving an 18 inch diameter hole in the roof.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindStoughton$10,000Trees in two areas of town were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindStoughton$5,000no account filed
June 2002LightningStoughton$5,000no account filed
June 2021Thunderstorm WindWest Stoughton$3,200In Stoughton, a tree and wires were down on Lakewood Drive, Pine Street, Access Road, and Brook Street.
August 2023Tornado (EF0)Stoughton$3,000A tornado briefly touched down in Stoughton on Eighth Street and|Corbett Street. Sporadic damage along a short path included fallen|trees, one of which fell onto a shed. Part of a fence was blown|in.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindStoughton$1,000At 230 PM EST, a tree was reported down on Pearl Street in Stoughton, near the High School.
August 2023Flash FloodWest Stoughton-In Canton, North Main St at Bay Rd was flooded.
July 2023Flash FloodStoughton-In Stoughton, Central St at Golden Rd was flooded.
June 2020FloodStoughton-In Stoughton, flooding was reported on Pearl Street.
June 2011HailStoughton-no account filed
May 2006HailStoughton-no account filed
May 2006HailStoughton-no account filed
July 1999HailStoughton-no account filed

Every storm 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
Belchers Corner (historical)0.7 miles42
Four Corners0.7 miles42
West Stoughton1.2 miles42
South Stoughton1.4 miles39
Stoughton Junction1.9 miles39
North Stoughton2.3 miles42
Springdale2.4 miles41
East Sharon3.2 miles41

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 613010. 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.