BlockBefore

West Wrentham, Massachusetts

44 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Wrentham town. It lies in ZIP code area 02093. It lies near Bucks Hill. The Survey maps it on the Franklin quadrangle.

West Wrentham within Norfolk County

Then and now

1887 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 102 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 Wrentham, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of West Wrentham, surveyed 1887

Topographic sheets covering this place

21 surveys from 44 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

36,456 words on this township

History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884 names this settlement in its chapter on Wrentham Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The Congregational Church in Foxborough, in Franklin (once West Wrentham), and in the north parish of Wrentham, now Norfolk, have been formed by those who were formerly members of the original church here organized in 1692. Since the incorporation of the society for the support of the minister no tax has been assessed for that purpose. At the time of Mr. Fisk's settlement the house of worship had neither bell, clock, nor organ. A bell and clock, however, were added probably some time before 1806, as we find the parish assuming at 'that date the expense of taking care of them. An organ was pursale of straw and chip bonnets. This instrument was formally dedicated, the Rev. Mr. Fisk preaching from the text, "Praise him with stringed instruments." In his sermon Mr. Fisk defended the use of musical instruments in public worship. That modest organ has been succeeded by others, until, by the munificence, chiefly of one of our citizens, the fine and large one now used was placed in its present position.

Passage source: History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884.

Williams' academy at West Wrentham was the one intended). She taught the ladies where she boarded. And in this way straw-braiding was introduced into this State through Wrentham. The first bonnets were made of oat straw flattened, and contained from sixteen the demand for them gave a vigorous impulse to the trade, and the sale extended throughout the country. This demand added much to the business of small trading stores by exchange of their goods for strawbraid.

Passage source: History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884.

In an old house not now inhabited, but yet standing near the station of the New York and New England Railroad Company at West Wrentham, known formerly as the Heaton place, Nathaniel Heaton Occasionally an old book has been seen purporting to have been printed there by him. His brother Benjamin, who graduated at Brown University in 1790, published a spelling-book and a preceptor which are supposed to have been printed by Nathaniel. Silas Metcalf, Hsq., one of our oldest citizens, who has always lived in the westerly part of the town, well remembers the fact that printing was done in the Heaton house, and that he used to go there when a boy for books. Nathaniel removed (at what date is not now known) to Smithfield, R. J., and thus terminated the printing business in Wrentham.

Passage source: History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1884.

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 Wrentham Town - it names this place 3 more 3 times.

Fires near this place

113 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 113 fires within 5 miles of West Wrentham between 2006 and 2020, burning about 56 acres in total. None started naturally. 17 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
Recreation and ceremony38
Missing data/not specified/undetermined29
Arson/incendiarism17
Smoking12
Debris and open burning12
Equipment and vehicle use4
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
27 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLAINVILLE
27 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLAINVILLE
26 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLAINVILLE
25 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLAINVILLE
23 September 2015Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresRhode Island Division of Forest Environmentnot named
22 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLAINVILLE
17 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlFRANKLIN
16 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlFRANKLIN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Norfolk County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 330 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 330 specimens collected within 10 miles of West Wrentham between 1843 and 1973: 209 Animalia, 88 Plantae, 30 Fungi, 2 Unrecorded, 1 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A Herz, A. B. Seymour, A. R. Hodgdon 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
A photograph of the species Polygala paucifolia, not of this specimenPolygala paucifolia Willd.1843ShoreWoonsocket
A photograph of the species Nitella tenuissima, not of this specimenNitella tenuissima (Desv.) Kütz.1874Piper, S. M.
A photograph of the species Carex vestita, not of this specimenCarex vestita Willd.1875Collector unspecifiedNorfolk.
A photograph of the species Loxia curvirostra, not of this specimenLoxia curvirostra minor (C.L.Brehm, 1846)1877Charles A. HoughtonWest Medway
A photograph of the species Passerina cyanea, not of this specimenPasserina cyanea (Linnaeus, 1766)1877Charles A. HoughtonWest Medway
A photograph of the species Podiceps auritus, not of this specimenPodiceps auritus cornutus (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)1881Daniel DuncanWest Medway
A photograph of the species Acorus americanus, not of this specimenAcorus americanus (Raf.) Raf.1884Nathaniel T. KidderCharles River, above Medfield
A photograph of the species Gymnosporangium clavariiforme, not of this specimenGymnosporangium clavariiforme (Wulfen) DC.1885A. B. Seymour
A photograph of the species Isotria verticillata, not of this specimenIsotria verticillata (Muhl. ex Willd.) Raf.1885PufferBellingham
A photograph of the species Gymnosporangium nidus-avis, not of this specimenGymnosporangium nidus-avis Thaxt.1891A.B. Seymour
A photograph of the species Benthamidia florida, not of this specimenBenthamidia florida (L.) Spach1893not recorded
A photograph of the species Diaporthe Nitschke, not of this specimenDiaporthe Nitschke, 18701893E. A. Burt

All 330 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 30 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 30 workings within 5 miles of West Wrentham: 17 past producers, 6 producers, 3 prospects, 2 occurrences. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay, Iron. 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
Copper HillMolybdenumOccurrenceChalcopyrite, Molybdenite, Scheelite
Copper Mine HillTungsten, Copper, Garnet, Molybdenum, IronOccurrenceMagnetite, Scheelite
Copper Mountain MineCopper, IronPast Producer
Foster ProspectArsenic, Uranium, Thorium, REEProspect
Glines & Rhodes Refin.--PlainvilleGold, PGE, SilverPast Producer
Iron Mine HillIron, TitaniumProspect
Iron Mine Hill DepositIron, Titanium, Metal, VanadiumPast Producer
PlainvilleBloating MaterialProducerSedimentary
Simeone Stone CorporationGranitePast ProducerGranite
Sneech Pond ProspectManganeseProspect

Every working recorded in Norfolk County

Storms near this place

1 since 2020

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Wrentham in 1 storm report in 2020: 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
October 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Wrentham-In Wrentham at 601 PM EDT, a mesonet site measured a wind gust to 58 mph.

Every storm 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
Sheldonville1.5 miles44
Wadsworth2.7 miles44
Rakeville2.8 miles44
South Bellingham3.6 miles44
Wampum Corner3.9 miles39
Franklin4.1 miles44
Benjamins Landing4.1 miles44
Crooks Corner4.2 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 Q122559117The 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 611745. 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.