BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: an ornate nineteenth-century American house. Not a photograph of this place.

Brayton Homestead

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“The Methodist Episcopal Chuixh' in South Somerset, known historically and legally as the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Somerset, is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, church of this denomination in the county of Bristol. Joseph Snelling, then stationed on the Warren Circuit, was invited by Mr.”

History of Bristol County, Massachusetts (1883). Machine-read text.

one of 272 National Register listings in Bristol County · listed in 2020 · category: Building · one of 8 National Historic Landmarks in Bristol County.

Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 structuress, 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 159 Brayton Ave., Somerset, 02725
  • When was it listed? 2020-05-29
  • Category. building
  • Township. Somerset town
  • National Register reference number. 100005077 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

The ground it stands on

29,406 words

The chapter on Somerset Town in History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883 names Somerset. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

George H. was one of a family of six. In addition to the common schools of Dighton had the advantage of an attendance of two or three sessions at a kind of select school in Somerset. He had the misfortune to lose both his parents early in life. He was only twelve years of age at the time of his father's death, and three years later his mother died. The elder brother, however, hired a housekeeper, took charge of the family, and thus kept them together until the several members were of an age capable of taking care of themselves. When George H. was fifteen years old he obtained employment in the Dighton Tack-Works, where he remained a few months, when he hired to work on a farm. After a year spent in this occupation he engaged with the Dighton Woolen Company, where he learned wool-sorting. He remained with this company (except an interval of about four months) until their works were destroyed by fire some three years later. During the interval above mentioned he went to West Buxton, Me., and took charge of a wool-sorting establishment. After the Dighton works were destroyed he spent a few months in the same line of business in Stillwater and Providence, R. I.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

Somerset is one of the western tier of towns, and is bounded as follows : On the north by Swansea and Dighton, on the east and south by Taunton River, which separates it from Berkley, Freetown, and Fall River, and on the west by Swansea. Mount Hope bay also touches it upon the south.

Passage source: History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, published 1883.

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 Somerset Town - 29,406 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

23 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 23 fires within 5 miles of Brayton Homestead between 2008 and 2020, burning about 43 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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/undetermined10
Debris and open burning5
Arson/incendiarism3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
20 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
16 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 August 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 August 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 July 2017Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 June 2017Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 May 2017Debris and open burning1.2 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 May 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Every fire recorded in Bristol County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 1,105 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,105 specimens collected within 10 miles of Brayton Homestead between 1844 and 1975: 608 Animalia, 383 Plantae, 82 Fungi, 29 Chromista, 3 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E Schuyler, A. B. Hervey, A. Macrae 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 Hibiscus moscheutos, not of this specimenHibiscus moscheutos subsp. moscheutos1844not recorded
A photograph of the species Pluchea camphorata, not of this specimenPluchea camphorata (L.) DC.1844not recorded
A photograph of the species Ranunculus bulbosus, not of this specimenRanunculus bulbosus L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Vitis labrusca, not of this specimenVitis labrusca L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Apocynum cannabinum, not of this specimenApocynum cannabinum L.1855F. C. SeymourRehoboth
A photograph of the species Carex spicata, not of this specimenCarex spicata Huds.1859Collector unspecifiedPortsmouth.
A photograph of the species Scolopax minor, not of this specimenScolopax minor J.F.Gmelin, 17891860Alan PooleWestport
A photograph of the species Mercenaria mercenaria, not of this specimenMercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758)1870Lermond, NormanProvidence, Narragansett Bay. In market at Providence.
A photograph of the species Chondrus crispus, not of this specimenChondrus crispus Stackhouse1874F. WolleFall River
A photograph of the species Conomitrium julianum, not of this specimenConomitrium julianum (Savi ex DC.) Mont.1874unknownFall River
A photograph of the species Doellingeria umbellata, not of this specimenDoellingeria umbellata (Mill.) Nees1874J. H. Redfield
A photograph of the species Ectocarpus littoralis, not of this specimenEctocarpus littoralis (L.) Lyngb.1874F. WolleFall River

All 1,105 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Brayton Homestead: 1 plant. All of them still produce. 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
Swansea PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPlant

Every working recorded in Bristol County

Storms near this property

9 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Somerset, the town this property stands in, in 9 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 flood, 1 lightning. 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
June 1998Flash FloodSomerset$570,000Buffington Brook
August 2003Flash FloodSomerset$15,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindSomerset$6,000In Somerset, three trees on Florida Avenue were downed by thunderstorm winds. A tree on Williams Street in Dighton was downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSomerset$5,000In Fall River, numerous trees, branches, and power lines were down across the city. At least one car was damaged due to a fallen branch.
July 2016LightningSomerset$5,000Lightning struck a tree, causing it to fall.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindSomerset$3,000Wires were downed on Route 103 in Somerset. In addition a large tree was downed in New Bedford blocking County Street.
July 2023Flash FloodSomerset-In Somerset, the northbound side of Rt 138 was flooded and closed.
August 2009FloodSomerset-Two to four inches of rain fell across Bristol County, resulting in minor street flooding. In Dartmouth, Russell Mills and Horseneck Roads were flooded and impassable and Old Westport Road was flooded with six inches of water. River Road near Sylvia Street in New Bedford was closed due to flooding. Stafford Square in Fall River was flooded with water two and a half feet deep and the westbound lane of Roebson Street was flooded.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindSomerset-Wires were downed on Route 103 in Somerset. In addition a large tree was downed in New Bedford.

Every storm recorded in Bristol County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Read, Nathan, House0.6 miles1983
Earle, John M., House0.7 miles1983
Lindsey, William, House0.7 miles1983
Qheguechan Club0.7 miles1983
Al Mac's Diner--Restaurant0.7 miles1999
Smith, John Mace, House0.7 miles1983

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 100005077 in Record Group 79.
Bristol CountyAll 272 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.