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Greenleaf, Minnesota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Ellsworth Township. It lies in ZIP code area 55355. The Survey maps it on the Hutchinson West quadrangle.

Greenleaf within Meeker County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

1,474 words on this township

Album of History and Biography of Meeker County, Minnesota, published 1888 names this settlement in its chapter on Ellsworth Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Ellsworth township was for years a portion of the town of Greenleaf, but on the 1st of September, 1868, it was organized as a separate civil township, under its present name. At the first election therein, most of the residents took an active part. The present officers are as follows - Supervisors: Eudolph Krussow (chairman), Jonathan Mc- Stotts and D. Barret ; assessor, Ira Gleason ; clerk, N. Y. Taylor; treasurer, Eudolph Leverence ; justices, John Vogelpohl and L. L. Sisson ; constables, D. F. Smith and Wm. Christoph.

Passage source: Album of History and Biography of Meeker County, Minnesota, published 1888.

Tlie village of (xreenleaf was laid out and platted by Dana E. King, in 1859, and the plat filed for record on the 3d of Septemljer of that year. Shortly after this W. H. Greenleaf, A. C. Smith and Bennett M. Brink acquired an interest in the town site by purchase. The village plat was situated upon the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter, the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter, and lots 5 and 6, of section 30, and contained a mill site and water-power.

Passage source: Album of History and Biography of Meeker County, Minnesota, published 1888.

Previous to the laying out of the town, in the fall of 1858, William II. Greenleaf and Dana E. King came here, and ^he former, finding a mill site, went back to Wisconsin, and, purchasing the machinery for a sawmill, returned the same fall with Bennett M. Brink, and the two in company erected the saw-mill and improved the water-power. Around this mill sprang up the little settlement which bore the name of Greenleaf. atter the founder of the leading industry of the place. Dana E. King returned in 1S59, and laid out the town as above mentioned, having preempted the land. In 1859 Judson A. Brink came to the embryo village, and here made his residence until 186-1, when he returned to New York State, from which he had come, where he died of consumption at a later date. Greenleaf and Brink operated the mill from December, 1858, until the spring of 1862, when Judson A. Brink purchased the interest of Mr. Greenleaf, and the two brothers ran the mill in partnership until 1861:. Steam was then put in and its owners continued its operation until three years plater, when they removed the machinery some few miles into the woods. It was after- Avard removed to the village of Dassel.

Passage source: Album of History and Biography of Meeker County, Minnesota, published 1888.

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 Ellsworth Township - it names this place 5 more 5 times.

Fires near this place

4 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Greenleaf between 1997 and 2013, burning about 331 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 burning2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
1 May 2013Power generation/transmission/distribution39 acresLitchfield Wetland Management DistrictLAKE HARDEN WF
8 April 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined124 acresLitchfield Wetland Management DistrictCOOMBS WF
29 April 1997Debris and open burning63 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 April 2001Debris and open burning105 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Meeker County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Greenleaf: 3 producers. 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
Smith PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Smith Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Smith Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Meeker County

Storms near this place

8 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Greenleaf in 8 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 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
June 2024Thunderstorm WindGreenleaf1 hurtSheriff's Office reported that a large pole barn had its roof blown off with all sides collapsing, resulting in one injury.
September 2013Thunderstorm WindGreenleaf-A large tree was blown down approximately 5 miles south of Litchfield. In addition, a pontoon boat was dislodged from its boat lift on Belle Lake, along the Meeker, McLeod county line.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindGreenleaf-Trees were downed near Lake Erie.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindGreenleaf-Power lines blown down. Estimated windspeed.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindGreenleaf-15 acres of trees blown down on east side of Lake Willie. Roof torn off shed about one half mile nw of town. Barn destroyed 2 miles nw of Greenleaf.
July 1994Tornado (F0)Greenleaf-A small tornado touched down breifly near Greenleaf uprooting several trees.
April 2021HailGreenleaf-no account filed
May 2015HailGreenleaf-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Meeker 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
Cedar Mills3.9 miles9
Beckville4.8 miles10
Strout5.5 miles10
Casey5.7 miles10
Corvuso7.0 miles9
Jennie8.1 miles10
Darwin8.3 miles10
Litchfield9.2 miles10

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 644445. 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.

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.