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

Waverley, Massachusetts

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Belmont town. It lies in ZIP code area 02478. It stands on Meetinghouse Hill. The Survey maps it on the Lexington quadrangle.

Waverley within Middlesex County

Then and now

1893 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Waverley, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Waverley, surveyed 1893

Topographic sheets covering this place

46 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

15,115 words on this township

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1890 names this settlement in its chapter on Belmont Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Believing that they could govern themselves and provide for their needs as citizens more satisfactorily than was possible while they continued in the towns of which they formed a comparatively unimportant part, a large majority of the residents near Wellington Hill and in the village which had been begun around the station at Waverley, applied in 1854 to the General Court for an act of incorporation as a town. This petition was signed by Charles Stone and 127 others. Remonstrances were presented by citizens of Waltham, from which a few acres were asked ; of Watertown, which would lose half of its already circumscribed territory ; of West Cambridge, whose " Flob End " suddenly acquired new value, and a few voters in the proposed new town ; the land companies, two in number, owning real estate in Waverley and at Strawberry Hill also opposed the petition, and by concurrent vote of the two Houses of the Legislature, the petitioners had leave to withdraw.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1890.

A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions to an amount " not less than five hundred dollars," for the support of worship for one year from June 1, 1861. At an adjourned meeting held Saturday, June 1st, the committee reported that they should be able to secure the necessary funds, and it was voted to extend an invitation to Rev. Charles Jones to preach for one year in Waverley Hall, at a salary of four hundred dollars. The call was accepted. The following year au attempt was made to substitute the Episcopal for the Congregational form of worship and two subscription papers were, under the direction of a committee, presented to the inhabitants of the village. The canvass which followed resulted in a larger support, both in money and numbers, for Congregational worship, and at a meeting held May 12, 1S62, it was voted to continue that form. An eflbrt made at a subsequent meeting to reconsider this vote was not successful.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1890.

Rev. Hubbard Winslow was now invited to become the pastor of the little society, and he filled that oflSce until June 1, 1863. For more than a year following the pulpit was supplied by various preachers. September 1, 1864, Rev. Josiah W. Turner assumed the pastoral charge at a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum. July 11, 1865, an ecclesiastical council of the neighboring (Trinitarian Congregational) churches was held, for the purpose of recognizing " The First Congregational Church of Waverley." The original members of the church were : Rev. Josiah W. Turner, Mrs. Almena W. Turner, Rev. Daniel Butler, Mrs. Jane D. Butler, Daniel Deshon, Mrs. Eunice Deshon, John Sylvester, Mrs. Lucy J. Sylvester, William Jewett, Mrs. Lois M. Jewett, Seromus Gates, Mrs. Lemira H. Gates, William Lowry, Miss Frances M. Grant, J. Douglas Butler, Miss Mary F. Turner. William Lowry was the first deacon of the church, in which office he has been succeeded by Solyman W. Grant and William Jewett.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1890.

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 Belmont Town - it names this place 15 more 15 times.

Fires near this place

51 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 51 fires within 5 miles of Waverley between 2015 and 2020, burning about 96 acres in total. None started naturally. 24 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
Arson/incendiarism24
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Debris and open burning7
Smoking3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Recreation and ceremony1
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
8 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROOKLINE
18 September 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMELROSE
18 September 2015Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMELROSE
5 August 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 2,087 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,087 specimens collected within 10 miles of Waverley between 1898 and 1975: 934 Animalia, 645 Plantae, 439 Fungi, 29 Protozoa, 17 Bacteria, 14 Chromista, 9 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A B. Proper 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 Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 18221900not recordedWayland
Specimen of Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Antennaria howellii, not of this specimenAntennaria howellii subsp. canadensis (Greene) R.J.Bayer1898Williams, E.F.
A photograph of the species Antennaria parlinii, not of this specimenAntennaria parlinii subsp. fallax (Greene) R.J.Bayer & Stebbins1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Antennaria plantaginifolia, not of this specimenAntennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Hook.1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Boletus griseus, not of this specimenBoletus griseus Frost1898H. Webster
A photograph of the species Acanthis flammea, not of this specimenAcanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus, 1758)1900ZAPPEY, W RROSLINDALE
A photograph of the species Acer carpinifolium, not of this specimenAcer carpinifolium Siebold & Zucc.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Acer palmatum, not of this specimenAcer palmatum var. dissectum (Thunb.) Miq.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.
A photograph of the species Agaricus brunnescens, not of this specimenAgaricus brunnescens Peck1900Morris, G. E.Waltham
A photograph of the species Alnus incana, not of this specimenAlnus incana subsp. rugosa (Du Roi) R.T.Clausen1900J. Murdoch, Jr.Roxbury

All 2,087 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Waverley: 5 past producers, 5 plants, 1 producer. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Lead. 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
Mahoney:S Rocky LedgePeatPast ProducerPeat
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)Plant
Rocky Ledge PitClayPast Producer
(Facility) Cambridge Smelter CoLeadPlant
Burton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
C. J. MabardySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Industrial Serv. Centers--CambridgeIronPlant
Massachusetts Broken Stone CoStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Somerville Smelting Co.LeadPlant
Weston MineStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Middlesex 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
Belmont0.6 miles46
Payson Park1.1 miles46
Watertown1.2 miles46
Clematis Brook Station1.5 miles46
East Watertown1.7 miles46
Strawberry Hill1.7 miles46
Bemis1.7 miles46
North Village1.7 miles46

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.

Wikidata item Q135683849The 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 612253. 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.