West Bridgewater, Massachusetts
39 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in West Bridgewater town. It lies in ZIP code area 02379. It stands on West Meadow Brook. The Survey maps it on the Brockton quadrangle. 7,707 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 66 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWest Bridgewater grew from 6,916 to 7,707 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. 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,916 | |
| 2020 | 7,707 | +791 (+11%) |
Then and now
1886 to 1989The 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 sheets covering this place
39 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.
- 1886 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1919 USGS Dedham quadrangle1:62500
- 1936 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:24000
- 1941 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:31680
- 1941 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:31680
- 1941 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:31680
- 1943 USGS Boston quadrangle1:125000
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:24000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:25000
- 1975 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:24000
- 1977 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:25000
- 1985 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
- 1987 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:25000
- 1987 USGS Brockton quadrangle1:25000
- 1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
- 1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
Photographs
1 photograph, 1940Taken 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.
Delano, Jack, 1940. Library of Congress
Fires nearby
312 since 2004The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 312 fires within 5 miles of West Bridgewater between 2004 and 2020, burning about 132 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 7 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 | 157 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 25 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| Natural | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BROCKTON |
| 8 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BROCKTON |
| 8 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | ABINGTON |
| 6 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 5 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 5 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BROCKTON |
| 4 September 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | BROCKTON |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected nearby
12 of 725 shownMuseums hold 725 specimens collected within 10 miles of West Bridgewater between 1855 and 1975: 394 Plantae, 206 Fungi, 122 Animalia, 2 Unrecorded, 1 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour, A. Grimell 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Condylura cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) | 1855 | Preparator(s): Edwin V. Komarek | Middleboro |
![]() | Microtus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1815) | 1855 | John W. Jenks | Middleboro |
![]() | Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818) | 1855 | John W. Jenks | Middleboro |
![]() | Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R.Br. | 1866 | Joseph Blake | Middleboro |
![]() | Carex bullata Willd. | 1866 | Rev. J. Blake | Middleborough |
![]() | Arethusa bulbosa L. | 1899 | J. Murdoch, Jr. | Middleborough |
![]() | Carex comosa Boott | 1899 | J. Murdoch, Jr. | Middleborough |
![]() | Carex crinita Lam. | 1899 | J. Murdoch, Jr. | Middleborough |
![]() | Carex folliculata L. | 1899 | J. Murdoch, Jr. | Middleborough |
| Carex merritt-fernaldii Mack. | 1899 | J. Murdoch, Jr. | Middleborough | |
![]() | Carex virescens Muhl. ex Willd. | 1899 | J. Murdoch, Jr. | Middleborough |
![]() | Dendroica petechia aestiva (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) | 1899 | Arthur C. Dyke | Bridgewater |
All 725 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries nearby
7 within 5 milesThe federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of West Bridgewater: 6 past producers, 1 producer. 1 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgewater Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Bridgewater Town Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Bridgewater Town Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Brockton Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Brockton Sand & Gravel Company Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gerald Kelleher Pit and Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Gourdin Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms nearby
7 since 1998The National Weather Service names West Bridgewater in 7 storm reports between 1998 and 2006: 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 lightning. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2006 | Lightning | West Bridgewater | $200,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Bridgewater | $15,000 | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Heavy Rain | West Bridgewater | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | West Bridgewater | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Bridgewater | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Hail | West Bridgewater | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | West Bridgewater | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bennetts Corner | 0.3 miles | 39 | |
| Elm Square | 0.7 miles | 39 | |
| Matfield Corner | 0.8 miles | 39 | |
| Matfield | 1.2 miles | 37 | |
| Westdale | 1.3 miles | 37 | |
| Brooks Place | 1.4 miles | 39 | |
| West Meadow | 1.5 miles | 39 | |
| Matfield Junction | 1.6 miles | 37 |
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 West Bridgewater | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2416264 | The 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 598559. 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.

















































