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Winchendon, Massachusetts

36 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1988. It stands in Winchendon town. It lies in ZIP code area 01475. It stands on North Branch Millers River. The Survey maps it on the Winchendon quadrangle. 4,160 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 997 feet above sea level.

Winchendon within Worcester County

Then and now

1887 to 1988

The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Winchendon, surveyed 1988
Topographic sheet of Winchendon, surveyed 1887

On record in Winchendon

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 3 records

Businesses named in the fire insurance atlases 12 of 26 shown

Every atlas business in Worcester County

Population over time

2 figures

Winchendon fell from 4,213 to 4,160 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, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. 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.

YearPeople Change
20104,213
20204,160-53 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 36 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

12,330 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 Winchendon Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

On the reception of the news of the battle of Lexington two companies marched from Winchendon, one under the commaud of Captain Abel Wilder, and attached to the regiment of Colonel Ephraim Doolittle, and the other under the command of Captain Moses Hale, and attached to the regiment of Colonel Nathan Sparhawk. The Winchendon men in Captain Wilder's company were as follows:

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

The amount of money expended by the town during the Revolution it is difficult to state with precision. In March, 1777, it was voted to pay a bounty of twenty pounds to soldiers enlisting in the Continental Army, and in November of that year the bounty was raised to one hundred and forty pounds. In 1781 ten thousand pounds were granted to procure beef for the army, and in that year 1412,000 were needed to defray the expenses of the town. It must be remembered, however, that at that time the currency was largely depreciated, and that large sums represented small values. Of course the town of Winchendon came out of the struggle with the purpose for which its people fought accomplished, but largely in debt, and with means so crippled that financial recuperation seemed almost impossible. So extreme was the destitution and so harassed were many of its inhabitants with debts pressing on them for settlement, that much sympathy was found to exist in Winchendon with those who instigated and jiromoted the Shays' Rebellion in 178(). Notwithstanding that rebellion was suppressed, the purposes for which it was excited were to a limited extent accomplished, by the enactment of relieving laws, and after its suppression the people, as best they could, struggled to revive their fallen fortunes, and place themselves once more on the road to prosperity and content.

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

On the 10th of May, 1819, a committee of five, consisting of George Coffin, Isaac Morse, Samuel Prentice, Phinehas Whitney and Samuel Moore Brown, was chosen to select a new minister as the successor of Mr. Pillsbury, but it was not until the 12th of October that a decision was reached, when it was voted to ask Rev. Elam Clark to settle as pastor. The invitation was declined and Rev. Eber L. Clark was then invited and accepted. He was ordained on the 13th of October, 1820, on which occasion Rev. Thomas Robbins, D.D., preached the sermon. His ministry continued until his resignation, .Tanuary 2, 183.5. Mr. Clark was born in Mansfield, Conn., March 23, 1786, and graduated at Williams College in 1811. He was licensed to preach in February, 1812, and ordained, September 24th in the same year, pastor of the First Church in Chatham, Connecticut. He was dismissed from that church August 13, 1815, and installed pastor of the church in Granby, Conn., July 3, 1816, from which he was dismissed July 5, 1820. After his resignation as pastor of the Winchendon Church, he served a pastorate of three years in Berlin, Mass., and afterwards a pastorate of fifteen years in Richmond, Mass. In 1853 he was installed in Washington, Mass., and died in that town in 1857. Julius L. Clark, formerly theeflicient chief clerk in the State Auditor's office in Boston, and at a later day the much-respected insurance commissioner of Massachusetts, was his son.

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 Winchendon Town - it names this place 33 more 33 times.

Fires near this place

36 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 36 fires within 5 miles of Winchendon between 1992 and 2020, burning about 35 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
Debris and open burning14
Recreation and ceremony10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Equipment and vehicle use1
Fireworks1

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
25 August 1996Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresNew Hampshire Division of Forest and Landsnot named
9 July 1993Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNew Hampshire Division of Forest and Landsnot named
5 July 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Hampshire Division of Forest and Landsnot named
3 July 2016Recreation and ceremony4.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 July 1993Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreNew Hampshire Division of Forest and Landsnot named
15 July 1993Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNew Hampshire Division of Forest and Landsnot named
30 June 1993Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNew Hampshire Division of Forest and Landsnot named
23 June 2020Debris and open burningunder 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 410 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 410 specimens collected within 10 miles of Winchendon between 1870 and 1973: 213 Plantae, 139 Animalia, 57 Fungi, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A., A. F. Newton, A. J. Stone 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 Osmunda regalis L.Osmunda regalis L.1900Bates, J.A.Royalston.
A photograph of the species Carex maritima, not of this specimenCarex maritima Gunnerus1870J. W. CongdonWellville
A photograph of the species Veronica L., not of this specimenVeronica L.1871not recorded
A photograph of the species Drosera rotundifolia, not of this specimenDrosera rotundifolia L.1882not recorded
A photograph of the species Linnaea borealis, not of this specimenLinnaea borealis subsp. longiflora (Torrey) Hultén1882not recorded
A photograph of the species Moneses uniflora, not of this specimenMoneses uniflora (L.) A.Gray1882M. A. M.Winchendon
A photograph of the species Polygala paucifolia, not of this specimenPolygala paucifolia Willd.1882M. A. M.
A photograph of the species Utricularia vulgaris, not of this specimenUtricularia vulgaris subsp. macrorhiza (Leconte) Clausen1886M., K. M.
A photograph of the species Vaccinium macrocarpon, not of this specimenVaccinium macrocarpon Aiton1886not recorded
A photograph of the species Peltandra virginica, not of this specimenPeltandra virginica (L.) Schott1892A.
Rosa rubiginosa L.1892not recorded
Carex scoparia Schkuhr ex Willd.1896W. Deane

All 410 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 Winchendon: 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
Lost Lake PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Sibley Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Winchendon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Winchendon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms near this place

13 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Winchendon in 13 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 7 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 lightning. The reports record 2 deaths. 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 1998Thunderstorm WindWinchendon2 killed, $15,000no account filed
July 2006LightningWinchendon$25,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindWinchendon$20,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindWinchendon$10,000no account filed
July 2016LightningWinchendon$3,000Lightning struck a tree, causing it to fall and cause damage to a nearby house.
May 2002Thunderstorm WindWinchendon$2,000no account filed
May 2020Thunderstorm WindWinchendon$800In Winchendon, a tree and power lines were down near the intersection of Spring Street and Water Street.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindWinchendon$500Large branches were downed by thunderstorm winds.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindWinchendon$300In Winchendon, a tree was down on Otter River Rd.
August 2015HailWinchendon-Quarter to ping pong ball size hail fell across Winchendon.
August 2015HailWinchendon-no account filed
June 2011HailWinchendon-no account filed
June 2011HailWinchendon-no account filed

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
Glenallen1.0 miles36
Waterville1.5 miles36
Hydeville1.5 miles36
Winchendon Springs1.6 miles36
Winchendon Center1.7 miles36
Pequoig2.2 miles36
Bullardville2.3 miles36
Harrisville2.7 miles36

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 WinchendonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q8023765The 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 610005. 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.