Sutton, Massachusetts
44 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Sutton town. It lies in ZIP code area 01590. It stands on Casey Brook. The Survey maps it on the Worcester South quadrangle.
Then and now
1889 to 1989The 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.


On record in Sutton
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 5 records
Freegrace Marble Farm Historic Districtlisted 1989
Manchaug Village Historic Districtlisted 2018
Sutton Center Historic Districtlisted 2001
Waters Farmlisted 1985
West Sutton Historic Districtlisted 2001
Topographic sheets covering this place
20 surveys from 44 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.
- 1889 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500
- 1892 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500, 9 printings
- 1908 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1921 USGS Webster quadrangle1:62500
- 1935 USGS Millbury quadrangle1:24000
- 1939 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:31680, 4 printings
- 1943 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:31680
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1973 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:25000
- 1973 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:25000
- 1983 USGS Worcester South quadrangle1:25000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
- 1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
14,748 words on this townshipHistory of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889 names this settlement in its chapter on Sutton Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The township of Sutton was purchased by certain persons residing in Boston, of John Wampus and others. Nipmug Indians, and is described as a tract of waste land eight miles square, lying between the towns of Mendon, Worcester, New (Jxford, Sherburne and Marlborough, embracing within its limits an Indian reservation four miles square, called " Hassanimisco."
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
The origin of the name is unknown. Deacon Leland gives an old tradition, which he regards wellestablished; It is this John Wampus visited England ; while on his return voyage to New England he received medical aid and other kindnesses from a fellow-passenger, Dr. Sutton, and from gratitude to him for his kindness, suggested his name for the town-
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
The original deed from John Wampus & Co. seems to have been lost, from the fact that the " Proprietors of Sutton," at a meeting held February 22, 1731-32, ordered "Tliat the Clerk shall provide a new book and transfer this regularly, and that on the first pages of it, the original deed of John Wampus, alias White, together with the Grant of the General Court, be first placed " - and though a new book was procured and the transfer made, no deed appears. The grant referred to was recorded on the first pages, and is as follows :
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., 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 Sutton Town - it names this place 40 more 40 times.
Fires near this place
58 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 58 fires within 5 miles of Sutton between 2002 and 2020, burning about 48 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 burning | 19 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Smoking | 11 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 8 September 2015 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 15 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 15 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 9 August 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 August 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 31 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 26 August 2020 | Smoking | 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 1,728 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,728 specimens collected within 10 miles of Sutton between 1839 and 1974: 1,017 Plantae, 432 Animalia, 246 Fungi, 14 Unrecorded, 13 Protozoa, 6 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 | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh. | 1896 | Henderson | |
![]() | Coryneum pulvinatum Kunze | 1897 | D. Murray | |
![]() | Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon | 1899 | H. H. Scudder | |
![]() | Ochrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal. | 1839 | E. Tuckerman | |
![]() | Carex laxiflora Lam. | 1840 | Thomas Nuttall | Cambridge. |
![]() | Carex vestita Willd. | 1840 | Thomas Nuttall | Cambridge. |
![]() | Trichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla | 1844 | Collector unspecified | Uxbridge |
![]() | Carex vesicaria L. | 1848 | J. W. Robbins | |
![]() | Mycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner | 1848 | E. Tuckerman | |
![]() | Potamogeton epihydrus Raf. | 1848 | J. W. Robbins | Uxbridge |
![]() | Cladonia cornucopioides F.Wilson | 1850 | J. L. Russell | Leicester |
![]() | Geranium maculatum L. | 1850 | not recorded |
All 1,728 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 21 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of Sutton: 14 past producers, 4 producers, 2 plants, 1 unknown. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Titanium, Metal. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crucible Spec. Metals--Auburn, Ma. | Iron | Plant | ||
| Worcester B Plant Ti | Titanium, Metal | Plant | ||
| A H Marando and Sons | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Armour Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Auburn Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bannister Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Barnett Road Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Boston Road Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| De Gaetano Brothers Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Defalco | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sutton in 10 storm reports between 2000 and 2022: 3 lightning, 3 hail, 2 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2014 | Flood | Sutton | $200,000 | The left lane of Route 146 north in Sutton was closed because of a sinkhole. Numerous vehicles were disabled by the flooding and sinkhole. In Shrewsbury, the left lane of I-290 eastbound was closed because of a sinkhole between exits 20 and 22. |
| May 2004 | Lightning | Sutton | $125,000 | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Lightning | Sutton | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Sutton | $3,500 | In Sutton, a large tree, power lines, and one utility pole were down on Douglas Road. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sutton | $2,000 | A tree was downed on Central Turnpike near the Oxford town line. |
| September 2019 | Flood | West Sutton | - | In Oxford, a portion of Sutton Avenue was closed due to flooding. |
| May 2009 | Hail | Sutton | - | Quarter size hail fell, covering the ground. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Sutton | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Sutton | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Lightning | Sutton | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marions Camp | 0.6 miles | 44 | |
| Bramanville | 2.1 miles | 44 | |
| West Millbury | 2.6 miles | 44 | |
| Old Common | 2.7 miles | 44 | |
| Wilkinsonville | 2.8 miles | 45 | |
| Millbury | 3.0 miles | 44 | |
| West Sutton | 3.2 miles | 43 | |
| East Sutton | 3.4 miles | 45 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 610706. 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.































