BlockBefore

West Sutton, Massachusetts

43 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 lies near Whittier Hill. The Survey maps it on the Oxford quadrangle.

West Sutton within Worcester County

Then and now

1889 to 1989

The 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.

Topographic sheet of West Sutton, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of West Sutton, surveyed 1889

On record in West 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 within a mile 2 records

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 43 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

14,748 words on this township

History 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.

First Baptist Church (West Sutton). - The first Baptist Church in this town was organized September 16, 1735. It was the fourth oldest church of the denomination in Massachusetts. Backus, the Baptist historian, says, in regard to the founding of this first Baptist Church at Sutton, that a Mr. James Bound, a sensible Baptist, who had immigrated from I'jiigland and located in Salem Village, and had, with others become imbued with Baptist principles, removed and began a Baptist Society in Sutton.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

Univeesalist Society. - This society was formed during the summer of 1840. In March, 1841, Rev. Alvin Abbott was engaged to preach one-half the time and the meetings were held in the hall at West Sutton. Mr. Abbott continued to preach for two years. After he left the society weakened and the last meeting of which there is any record is April 5, 1847.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.

A few of these schools, however, are remembered, and worthy of particular mention. One of them, called "Sutton High School," was established by Kev. George A. Willard, in 1835, in the hall of the brick mansion built l)y Mr. .James Freeland ; the school was afterward removed to West Sutton and continued several years. Mr. Willard was a superior teacher, as several of his former pupils now resident in town can testify.

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 1 more 1 time.

Fires near this place

54 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 54 fires within 5 miles of West Sutton between 2007 and 2020, burning about 29 acres in total. None started naturally. 5 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 burning15
Recreation and ceremony10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Railroad operations and maintenance6
Arson/incendiarism5
Smoking5
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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 2015Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
15 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
15 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 August 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 August 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
31 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 July 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 1,276 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,276 specimens collected within 10 miles of West Sutton between 1839 and 1974: 729 Plantae, 318 Animalia, 199 Fungi, 13 Protozoa, 12 Unrecorded, 5 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour, A. B. Seymour et al. 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 Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.1896Henderson
Specimen of Coryneum pulvinatum KunzeCoryneum pulvinatum Kunze1897D. Murray
Specimen of Sceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) LyonSceptridium dissectum (Spreng.) Lyon1899H. H. Scudder
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia tartarea, not of this specimenOchrolechia tartarea (L.) A.Massal.1839E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Carex laxiflora, not of this specimenCarex laxiflora Lam.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Carex vestita, not of this specimenCarex vestita Willd.1840Thomas NuttallCambridge.
A photograph of the species Trichophorum planifolium, not of this specimenTrichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla1844Collector unspecifiedUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex vesicaria, not of this specimenCarex vesicaria L.1848J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Mycobilimbia hypnorum, not of this specimenMycobilimbia hypnorum (Lib.) Kalb & Hafellner1848E. Tuckerman
A photograph of the species Potamogeton epihydrus, not of this specimenPotamogeton epihydrus Raf.1848J. W. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex aperta, not of this specimenCarex aperta Boott1853W. BoottMassachusetts
A photograph of the species Potamogeton bicupulatus, not of this specimenPotamogeton bicupulatus Fernald1854W. J. RobbinsUxbridge

All 1,276 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of West Sutton: 13 past producers, 4 producers, 1 plant. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Worcester B Plant TiTitanium, MetalPlant
Armour PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Barnett Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Boston Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
De Gaetano Brothers IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Direnzo Brothers Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Highway PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Lind PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Old Webster Road PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Oxford Quarry Plant #8Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms near this place

2 since 2019

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Sutton in 2 storm reports between 2019 and 2022: 1 flood, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2022Thunderstorm WindWest Sutton$3,500In Sutton, a large tree, power lines, and one utility pole were down on Douglas Road.
September 2019FloodWest Sutton-In Oxford, a portion of Sutton Avenue was closed due to flooding.

Every storm recorded in Worcester 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
Orchard Hills Estates2.0 miles43
Manchaug3.1 miles46
Sutton3.2 miles44
Marions Camp3.2 miles44
Oxford3.5 miles43
West Millbury4.0 miles44
Hodges Village4.3 miles42
North Oxford4.4 miles44

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 Q122548899The 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 610722. 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.