Alander, Massachusetts
44 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Mount Washington town. It lies in ZIP code area 01258. It stands on Mount Ashley. The Survey maps it on the Bash Bish Falls quadrangle.
Then and now
1885 to 1997The same ground, surveyed 112 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
44 sheetsMatched 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.
- 1885 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1888 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1891 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1897 USGS Sheffield quadrangle1:62500
- 1899 USGS Housatonic quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Housatonic quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Housatonic quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Housatonic quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Housatonic quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Housatonic quadrangle1:125000
- 1943 USGS Housatonic quadrangle1:125000
- 1948 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1949 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:31680
- 1949 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:31680
- 1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Bash Bish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:25000
- 1958 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1959 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Bashbish Falls quadrangle1:25000
- 1986 USGS Pittsfield quadrangle1:100000
- 1986 USGS Pittsfield quadrangle1:100000
- 1987 USGS Ashley Falls quadrangle1:25000
- 1987 USGS Ashley Falls quadrangle1:25000
- 1997 USGS Ashley Falls quadrangle1:25000
Fires nearby
9 since 2010The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Alander between 2010 and 2020, burning about 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 September 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | New York Forest Rangers | not named |
| 16 May 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 25 April 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 25 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 25 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 27 March 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 3 October 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 October 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected nearby
12 of 836 shownMuseums hold 836 specimens collected within 10 miles of Alander between 1860 and 1973: 689 Plantae, 108 Animalia, 38 Fungi, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. L. Ericson, A. Lorenz, A. Lowe 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 | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Equisetum sylvaticum L. | 1900 | Day, M.E. | Sheffield. |
![]() | Percopsis omiscomaycus (Walbaum, 1792) | 1860 | Britton McCabe | Green R. (trib. of Housatonic R.), 1 mi. S of Great Barrington on Rt. 23 |
![]() | Carex vesicaria L. | 1878 | L. H. Hoysradt | Mt. Everett. |
![]() | Anthoceros laevis L. | 1887 | Unknown | Sheffield |
![]() | Coltricia cinnamomea (Jacq.) Murrill | 1887 | L. M. Underwood | Mt. Everett. |
![]() | Crucibulum laeve (Huds.) Kambly | 1887 | L. M. Underwood | Mt. Everett. |
![]() | Marasmius siccus (Schwein.) Fr. | 1887 | L. M. Underwood | Mt. Everett. |
![]() | Diphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr | 1897 | Elizabeth G. Britton | Mount Washington |
| Gyrostachys ochroleuca Rydb. | 1897 | Mrs. Long | Mt. Washington | |
![]() | Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) Schimp. | 1897 | Elizabeth G. Britton | Bashbish Falls |
![]() | Neckera besseri (Lobarz.) Jur. | 1897 | E. G. Britton | Bashbish Falls |
![]() | Dichodontium pellucidum (Hedw.) Schimp. | 1900 | E. G. Britton | Bashbish Falls |
All 836 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries nearby
4 within 5 milesThe federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Alander: 3 past producers, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Zinc, Manganese. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copake Limonite Mine | Iron, Manganese, Zinc | Past Producer | Goethite, Limonite | |
| Copake Limonite Mine | Iron, Zinc, Manganese | Past Producer | ||
| Copake Mine | Iron | Past Producer | Residual | |
| Spurr Prospect | Iron | Prospect |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashley Falls | 6.9 miles | 43 | |
| Sheffield | 7.0 miles | 43 | |
| South Egremont | 7.7 miles | 42 | |
| East Sheffield | 8.8 miles | 43 | |
| Egremont Plain | 9.3 miles | 42 | |
| Clayton | 9.5 miles | 43 | |
| Gomorrah | 9.5 miles | 43 | |
| Brookside | 9.7 miles | 40 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 607265. 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.






















































