BlockBefore

Leeper, Missouri

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1932 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Mill Spring Township. It lies in ZIP code area 63957. It stands on Cedar Bay. The Survey maps it on the Mill Spring quadrangle. It stands 489 feet above sea level.

Leeper within Wayne County

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 18 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.

Fires near this place

46 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 46 fires within 5 miles of Leeper between 1992 and 2020, burning about 603 acres in total. None started naturally. 6 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/undetermined18
Debris and open burning13
Equipment and vehicle use6
Arson/incendiarism6
Fireworks1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
3 September 1996Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
25 July 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMark Twain National ForestTWIN POND ROAD
14 July 2020Fireworksunder an acreMissouri Department of Conservation220568-02220-07142020-2012
8 April 1994Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
8 April 1992Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 April 1995Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 April 1992Equipment and vehicle use8.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 April 1992Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Wayne County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 20 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of Leeper: 14 past producers, 3 occurrences, 3 prospects. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Manganese, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
UnknownManganesePast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Armstrong MineIronPast Producer
Cedar Bay MineIronPast Producer1882, 1888
Cedar Bay MineIronPast Producer
Christman MineIronPast Producer
Clarkson BankIronPast Producer
Eads BankIronProspect
Early BankIronOccurrence

Every working recorded in Wayne County

Storms near this place

5 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Leeper in 5 storm reports between 2004 and 2025: 3 tornado, 1 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 2 deaths and 2 injuries. 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
March 2025Tornado (EF3)Leeper2 killed, $3,000,000An EF-3 tornado touched down just northeast of Eastwood in Carter County and moved quickly northeast to the Wayne County line just southwest of Leeper. The tornado destroyed 3 homes in Leeper, including completely wiping the slab clean on one. A nearby house had its roof mostly removed and another had some broken windows. Three manufactured homes and one barn were destroyed, as well. Two people died when their camper home was thrown into the Black river. The tornado did extensive tree damage with thousands either snapped or uprooted along its path. It continued northeast from Leeper until it dissipated at County Road 361 just west of Maddox Lake. The estimated peak wind was 165 mph. The total path length was around 31 miles.
May 2011Tornado (EF3)Leeper2 hurt, $500,000This tornado continued from Carter County into Wayne County. Three homes were destroyed. One log home in far southwestern Wayne County was levelled. Nine houses suffered major damage, and another 39 homes had minor damage. The vast majority of damage was in the Silva area. In Silva, a camper and a mobile home were destroyed. A Silva family reportedly did not make it to their tornado shelter in time. A large tree fell on one of the victims, resulting in a dislocated shoulder. Another family member received minor to moderate injuries to the hip, back, and head. Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged from flying debris and fallen trees. A couple of churches received mainly minor damage. Hundreds of acres of large trees were uprooted or snapped. A half-mile section of Highway 34 east of Silva was closed due to downed trees and power lines. Most streets in Silva were blocked by trees and limbs. Peak winds were estimated near 150 mph. The average path width was about 450 yards. The tornado continued northeast into Madison County.
May 2004Tornado (F1)Leeper$5,000A short-lived tornado with estimated winds from 80 to 90 MPH struck the south side of Leeper. A storage shed roof and a few carports were damaged. Roofs of two mobile homes were damaged. A poorly constructed outbuilding that housed semi-trailers was destroyed. Two large trees and several large tree limbs were down.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindLeeper$1,000Thunderstorm winds blew down a tree onto MO-34 east of the Reynolds County line.
May 2007FloodLeeper-Route KK was closed by flooding from Route 34 to the Carter County line.

Every storm recorded in Wayne 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
Gaylor1.5 miles18
Mill Spring1.6 miles18
Chilton (historical)2.4 miles17
Beckville4.8 miles18
Piedmont5.5 miles18
Barlow (historical)6.5 miles17
Kerrigan (historical)7.1 miles17
Platow8.5 miles18

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 LeeperAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3471498The 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 750680. 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.