Photograph by Arthur C. Haskel, Public domain. Via
Wikimedia Commons.
Angle Tree Stone
Built in 1790. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1976. 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 Angle Tree Stone is a historic boundary marker astride the border of North Attleboro, Massachusetts and Plainville, Massachusetts.”
Wikipedia article Angle Tree Stone, CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 272 National Register listings in Bristol County · listed in 1976 · category: Object · built in 1790 · one of 8 National Historic Landmarks in Bristol County.
National Register reference number.76000228- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
41 since 2015
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 41 fires within 5 miles of Angle Tree Stone between
2015 and 2020, burning about 40 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Recreation and ceremony
19
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
10
Debris and open burning
5
Smoking
4
Misuse of fire by a minor
1
Arson/incendiarism
1
Equipment and vehicle use
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 347 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Angle Tree Stone between 1874 and
1973: 196 Animalia, 105 Plantae, 46 Fungi. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. A. Eaton, A. E. Sears, A.H.A. 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.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
21 workings within 5 miles of Angle Tree Stone: 12 past producers, 8 producers, 1 unknown.
8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Granite. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
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.
From the nomination file
2,153 words on record
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
The Angle Tree Stone is situated in a small clearing in a wooded area which is surrounded by agricultural land. There are no roads in the immediate vicinity; the Stone is reached by a narrow right of way through the fields. It was erected in 1790 to mark the place where a tree had stood which identified the place where the boundary between the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies changed direction. The Angle Tree Stone is a slate shaft fourteen feet high, two feet wide and four inches thick. A circle carved into the top of the shaft is the only ornamental feature. The face of the north side of the circle has "Massachusetts Colony" inscribed on it; "Plymouth Colony" is inscribed on the south side.
The following inscription is cut into both faces of the shaft: "This monument, erected by order of the government to perpetuate the place on which the late station or angle tree formerly stood. The commissioners appointed by the old colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts to run out and establish this line in 1664 were Robert Studson, Constant Southworth, Josias Winslow, Jos. Fisher, Roger Clapp and Eleazer Lusher. They began this work on the 10th day of May, the same year, and marked a tree then standing on this spot, it being 3 miles south of the southern most part of the Charles River. Lemuel Kollok, Esq. was appointed agent to cause this monument to be erected.
By an order of the General Court the Selectmen of the towns of Wrentham and Attleborough were present viz: Samuel Fisher, John Whiting, Nathan Hawes, Nathan Comstock and Nathaniel Ware, Esquires of Wrentham. From this stone the line runs due west the extent of the Commonwealth. Done at Wrentham the 29th day of Nov.
/ARCHITECT The Angle Tree Stone marks a significant site in Massachusetts, and has gained, through its antiquity, significance in its own right as a monument. The Stone is located on the boundary between the old Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony established by the land grant given to the Massachusetts Bay Company by Charles I in 1628. The southern boundary of the Company's domain was designated as three miles south of the southern end of the Charles River. As the inscription on the stone states, Robert Studson, Constant Southworth, Josias Winslow, Jos. Fisher, Roger Clapp and Eleazer Lusher were appointed as commissioners in 1664 to survey the boundary between the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies.
These commissioners marked a tree where the stone now stands, to identify the place three miles south of the southern end of the Charles River where the boundary changed direction from south west to due west, and runs into the Rhode Island border. The General Court of Massachusetts, in Chapter 37 of the Resolves of 1790, directed "that a stone monument be Erected on the Southerly line of the Old Colony of Massachusetts in the Place where the later Station or Angel (sic) Tree formerly stood." and further resolved that "Lemuel Kollock Esgr be a Committee to cause the said Monument to be erected." The line which was surved by the commissioners in 1664 now marks the boundary between Norfolk County and Plymouth and Bristol Counties.
The location of the Angle Tree Stone is easily identified on any map which shows this boundary, because it is located at the only angle and change of direction on the entire line.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 76000228, 10 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
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.
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.
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