BlockBefore

West Upton, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Upton town. It lies in ZIP code area 01568. It stands on Warren Brook. The Survey maps it on the Milford quadrangle.

West Upton within Worcester 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 Upton, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of West Upton, surveyed 1886

On record in West Upton

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 1 record

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

Topographic sheets covering this place

20 surveys from 42 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

10,290 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 Upton Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The territory of Upton is not specially attractive in soil or scenery. Its surface abounds in rocky hills, with here and there a plain of better land, like those on which the pleasant villages of. Centre and West Upton are situated, while West River, the chief stream of the locality, finds its way through the richer meadows of the valley towards its outlet in the Blackstone River, at Uxbridge.

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

A Baptist Society was organized in 1751, but was never vigorous, and, after a few years under the ministrations of Elder Abraham Bloss, it was dissolved. In 1787 a new society was formed, which at various times was presided over by Elders Ingalls, Simeon, Snow, Sawyer, Smith and Bullard. After the departure of Mr. Dexter Bullard the society was merged in the First Unitarian Society, which was organized in 1846. The last-mentioned society built a church on the easterly side of the Common, which was dedicated in 1848. The first pastor of the society was Rev. William Cutter Tenney, a Harvard graduate in 1838, who left in 1849, and w'as succeeded by Rev. George S. Ball, whose service has continued up to the present time, with the exception of two years (1857- 58) when he was the settled minister over the First Church in Plymouth. During the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Ball served eighteen months as chaplain of the 21st Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, and is remembered by all who come within his influence as a fearless soldier as well as a faithful minister of God. As a pastor he extends his sphere of usefulness beyond his church and his flock, and is universally beloved as a citizen, neighbor and friend. In 1873 Hon. William Knowlton built a church at West Upton, the use of which he gave to the Unitarian Society, and in 1874 the old church was sold to the bishop of the diocese for Catholic worship. The Catholic Society has been organized only a few years, but it is steadily gaining in strength and vigor.

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

Colonel Stoddard, soon after bis marriage, became connected with business operations in Savannah, Georgia, but returned home at the outbreak of the War of 1812, and bought the Farmer farm, in the south part of the town, which he occupied and managed about six years. About the year 1820 he resumed his business connections at the South, locating himself in Charleston, where he remained four years. Not long after bis return he opened a store, in which he began the business of buying and selling straw braid, which soon developed into the liat and bonnet manufacturing industry. In those days the farmers about Upton brought their various products to the town stored for sale and e.Kchange, and among these were straw plaits, which their wives and daughters braided from rye straw. These plaits were at first used for trimming purposes, but became, finally, the seed from which the large straw hat and bonnet business of Worcester County has grown. Colonel Stoddard and the firm of Fisk & Bradish were among the pioneers in this branch of industry. For a time Colonel Stoddard was a partner with William Knowlton, under the name of Stoddard & Knowlton, but after the removal of Mr. Knowlton to West Upton, he carried on the business alone for some years, and finally retired to his new farm on the Mendou Road, nut far from the Common, where he died in 1865. He was a man of indomitable energy, of uncompromising integity, and at his death was a considerable owner of real estate, the management of which divided his time with the usual ruutiue occupations of the farm.

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 Upton Town - it names this place 4 more 4 times.

Fires near this place

71 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 71 fires within 5 miles of West Upton between 2002 and 2020, burning about 50 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined16
Debris and open burning15
Recreation and ceremony11
Smoking11
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Arson/incendiarism4
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Equipment and vehicle use2

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
16 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
30 August 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 August 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 August 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 July 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMassachussetts State Fire Marshal's Officenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 707 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 707 specimens collected within 10 miles of West Upton between 1844 and 1975: 281 Plantae, 257 Animalia, 151 Fungi, 12 Protozoa, 3 Unrecorded, 3 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. P. D. Piguet, A. R. Hodgdon; F. L. Steele 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 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 Potamogeton epihydrus, not of this specimenPotamogeton epihydrus Raf.1848J. W. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Potamogeton bicupulatus, not of this specimenPotamogeton bicupulatus Fernald1854W. J. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex brevior, not of this specimenCarex brevior (Dewey) Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex normalis, not of this specimenCarex normalis Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex siccata, not of this specimenCarex siccata Dewey1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex straminea, not of this specimenCarex straminea Willd. ex Schkuhr1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Hyla versicolor, not of this specimenHyla versicolor LeConte, 18251857Weinland, David Friedrich

All 707 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of West Upton: 3 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
A H Marando and SonsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Bannister PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Grafton PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pleasant Street PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms near this place

7 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Upton in 7 storm reports between 2008 and 2019: 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. 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
July 2009LightningWest Upton1 hurtNew England Cable News reported that a 44 year old man was injured when lightning struck a lamppost at the end of his driveway and travelled under the driveway to where he was standing.
July 2018Tornado (EF1)West Upton$40,000At 1:41 AM EST, the parent thunderstorm of the Douglas tornado generated a second tornado that touched down in western Upton. The tornado touched down on Hartford Avenue South, crossed state route 140, and and produced most of its damage in the neighborhood of Ephram's Way. The tornado then moved northeast, lifting in Upton State Forest. Winds were estimated at 100 mph on Ephram's Way. The path length was about 1 mile, with a maximum width of 100 yards. The tornado was rated an EF-1.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindWest Upton$6,000At 1142 AM EST, a tree was knocked down on Warren Street in Upton. At 1150 AM EST, multiple trees and wires were brought down on Fowler Street in Upton.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWest Upton$5,000A tree was downed onto wires, blocking Elm Street between Taft Street and Cider Mill Lane in Upton.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindWest Upton$4,000At 1150 AM EST, multiple trees and wires were down on Fowler Street in Upton.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindWest Upton$3,000A tree was downed on wires on Mendell Road.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindWest Upton$1,000A tree along Route 140 was downed by thunderstorm winds blocking the road.

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
Upton1.0 miles42
Northbridge2.0 miles45
Kittville2.3 miles45
Riverdale2.4 miles45
Farnumsville3.3 miles45
Plummer Corner3.6 miles46
Northbridge Center3.7 miles45
Fisherville3.8 miles45

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 611411. 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.