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

West Corners, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Randolph Town City. It lies in ZIP code area 02368. It stands on Norroway Brook. The Survey maps it on the Blue Hills quadrangle. The federal gazetteer marks this settlement historical: it is no longer a populated place, though the surveys that recorded it still are.

West Corners 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 West Corners (historical), surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of West Corners (historical), surveyed 1886

Topographic sheets covering this place

42 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.

Fires nearby

212 since 2015

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 212 fires within 5 miles of West Corners (historical) between 2015 and 2020, burning about 122 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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
Recreation and ceremony134
Smoking38
Missing data/not specified/undetermined30
Debris and open burning6
Equipment and vehicle use2
Fireworks1
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
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
29 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
28 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
25 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSTOUGHTON
22 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
22 September 2015Recreation and ceremony1.5 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBRAINTREE
21 September 2020Debris and open burning2.9 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Norfolk County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 8,210 shown

Museums hold 8,210 specimens collected within 10 miles of West Corners (historical) between 1815 and 1975: 3,693 Plantae, 2,204 Animalia, 2,052 Fungi, 168 Protozoa, 52 Chromista, 30 Unrecorded, 11 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by (MARSDEN, H W), A C Gibson, A Phelps Wyman 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 Lysimachia × producta (A.Gray) FernaldLysimachia × producta (A.Gray) Fernald1900A. P. Chute
A photograph of the species Ranunculus L., not of this specimenRanunculus L.1815not recordedThicket at South Boston.
A photograph of the species Cornus sericea, not of this specimenCornus sericea subsp. sericea1832Nathaniel T. KidderMilton, Brook Road
A photograph of the species Carex echinata, not of this specimenCarex echinata subsp. echinata1834not recorded
A photograph of the species Carex trisperma, not of this specimenCarex trisperma Dewey1836J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Cladonia rangiferina, not of this specimenCladonia rangiferina (L.) Weber1844J. L. RussellHingham
A photograph of the species Silene vulgaris, not of this specimenSilene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke1844not recorded
A photograph of the species Galium verum, not of this specimenGalium verum L.1846Kupell
A photograph of the species Carex acutiformis, not of this specimenCarex acutiformis Ehrh.1847Boott, M.South Boston
A photograph of the species Hamamelis virginiana, not of this specimenHamamelis virginiana L.1847Charles F. GirardRoxbury
A photograph of the species Lopadium disciforme, not of this specimenLopadium disciforme (Flot.) Kullh.1848J. L. Russell
A photograph of the species Cladonia gracilis, not of this specimenCladonia gracilis (L.) Willd.1849J. L. RussellHingham

All 8,210 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 14 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of West Corners (historical): 7 past producers, 5 producers, 1 unknown, 1 plant. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Granite. 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
Old Colony Crushed StoneGranitePast ProducerGranite
Old Colony QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Simeone Stone CorpStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Stoughton QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
A A Will Materials CordSand 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
Braintree PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Canton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working 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
North Randolph0.4 miles42
Randolph2.2 miles42
Braintree Highlands2.6 miles42
North Stoughton2.9 miles42
Ponkapoag3.1 miles42
South Braintree3.2 miles38
Five Corners3.3 miles42
Camp Sayre3.4 miles42

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 606314. 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.