BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Leyden, Massachusetts

36 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Leyden town. It lies in ZIP code area 01337. It stands on Spencer Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Colrain quadrangle.

Leyden within Franklin County

Then and now

1890 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 108 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Leyden, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet of Leyden, surveyed 1890

Topographic sheets covering this place

36 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 nearby

15 since 2017

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Leyden between 2017 and 2020, burning about 8 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 burning10
Recreation and ceremony2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1
Smoking1

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
14 July 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
11 June 2018Other causes3.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 May 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
30 April 2017Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
25 April 2020Debris and open burning1.5 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
24 April 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 April 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 April 2017Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Franklin County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 861 shown

Museums hold 861 specimens collected within 10 miles of Leyden between 1847 and 1975: 336 Animalia, 261 Plantae, 146 Fungi, 111 Unrecorded, 7 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A S Pease, A. J. Grout, A. S. Pease 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
Specimen of Dryopteris spinulosa (O.F.Müll.) WattDryopteris spinulosa (O.F.Müll.) Watt1896Leonard, F.E.Northfield, Mass.
A photograph of the species Cinna latifolia, not of this specimenCinna latifolia (Trevir. ex Göpp.) Griseb.1847Russell
unnamed (fossil)1867Othniel C. MarshBlack shale (property of T. M. Stoughton, 1871 Beer County map, previously owned by Dr. Roswell Field) south side of Connecticut River, Horse Race, Montague
A photograph of the species Spiranthes ochroleuca, not of this specimenSpiranthes ochroleuca (Rydb.) Rydb.1894Swinerton, J.R.Greenfield
A photograph of the species Potamogeton bicupulatus, not of this specimenPotamogeton bicupulatus Fernald1895A. J. GroutLily Pond
Rhexia virginica L.1895A. J. GroutLily Pond
A photograph of the species Carex plantaginea, not of this specimenCarex plantaginea Lam.1896Sydney HarrisWoods near Factory Village [Note: Location found by Geolocate is in Franklin County]
A photograph of the species Dryopteris intermedia, not of this specimenDryopteris intermedia (Muhl. ex Willd.) A.Gray1896Leonard, F.E.Northfield
A photograph of the species Daedalea confragosa, not of this specimenDaedalea confragosa (Bolton) Pers.1927Hansbrough J. R.Greenfield
A photograph of the species Dasyscyphus calycinus, not of this specimenDasyscyphus calycinus (Schumach.) Fuckel1927Hansbrough J. R.Colrain
A photograph of the species Fomes fomentarius, not of this specimenFomes fomentarius (L.) Fr.1927Skellanger L. E.Colrain
Nectria cinnabarina (Tode) Fr.1927Hansbrough J. R.Colrain

All 861 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

8 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Leyden: 3 occurrences, 3 past producers, 1 producer, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Slate, Dimension, Iron, Sulfur, Copper, Iron, Copper, Sulfur. 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
Bernardston Magnetite OccurenceIron, Sulfur, CopperOccurrenceReplacement
Bernardston Magnetite OccurrenceIron, Copper, SulfurPast Producer
West Leyden Copper ProspectSulfidesOccurrenceReplacement
West Leyden Copper ProspectSulfurProspect
North Bernardston Slate QuarrySlate, DimensionProducerMetamorphic
North Bernardston Slate QuarrySlate, DimensionPast Producer
North Bernardston Slate QuarrySlate, DimensionOccurrenceMetamorphic
North Bernardston Slate QuarrySlate, DimensionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Franklin County

Storms nearby

11 since 2008

The National Weather Service names Leyden in 11 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 8 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 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
May 2010Thunderstorm WindLeyden$25,000Trees and wires on West Leyden Road and Brattleboro Roads were downed by thunderstorm winds. This resulted in numerous road closures and power outages.
September 2014LightningLeyden$15,000Lightning struck a house on Alexander Street, setting it on fire.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindLeyden$6,000At 4:15 PM EST, trees were reported down on wires on Kately Road, Mid County Road and Greenfield Road in Leyden.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindLeyden$5,000A large tree was downed onto wires on Alexander Road.
October 2013Thunderstorm WindLeyden$5,000A tree and wires on Greenfield Road were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindLeyden$5,000A tree and wires on East Hill Road were downed by thunderstorm winds. The tree landed on a house.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindLeyden$1,000In Leyden, multiple trees and wires fell onto George Lamb Rd.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindLeyden$1,000At 655 PM EST, an amateur radio operator reported a tree down on Mid County Road in Leyden.
May 2024HailLeyden-In Leyden, 3/4 inch hail was reported.
July 2020HailLeyden-In Leyden, dime size hail was reported.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindLeyden-Trees were downed by thunderstorm winds.

Every storm recorded in Franklin 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
West Leyden1.8 miles36
Stewartville2.4 miles36
Fort Lucas3.1 miles36
North Bernardston3.3 miles37
Fort Morrison3.5 miles36
Elm Grove4.0 miles36
Colrain4.0 miles36
Fort Morris4.3 miles36

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 608203. 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.

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.