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

West Farms, Massachusetts

42 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Northampton City. It lies in ZIP code area 01062. It stands on Mineral Hills. The Survey maps it on the Easthampton quadrangle.

West Farms within Hampshire County

Then and now

1885 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of West Farms, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of West Farms, surveyed 1885

Topographic sheets covering this place

42 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 1898 county history

3,281 words on this township

The county history of 1898 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for the smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Northampton City covers the township.

Read the chapter on Northampton City - 3,281 words.

Fires nearby

75 since 2004

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 75 fires within 5 miles of West Farms between 2004 and 2020, burning about 32 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 4 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
Equipment and vehicle use24
Missing data/not specified/undetermined23
Debris and open burning10
Natural8
Recreation and ceremony6
Arson/incendiarism4

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
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
15 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
7 August 2016Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
30 August 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 August 2016Naturalunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hampshire County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 2,519 shown

Museums hold 2,519 specimens collected within 10 miles of West Farms between 1822 and 1975: 1,694 Plantae, 583 Animalia, 223 Fungi, 12 Chromista, 4 Protozoa, 2 Unrecorded, 1 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A., A. Albee, A. B. Seymour 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 Camissonia LinkCamissonia Link1898B. L. Robinson
Specimen of Buellia disciformis (Fr.) MuddBuellia disciformis (Fr.) Mudd1900George P. ClintonHammond Pond
Specimen of Graphis scripta (L.) Ach.Graphis scripta (L.) Ach.1900George P. ClintonHammond Pond
A photograph of the species Porella platyphylloidea, not of this specimenPorella platyphylloidea (Schwein.) Lindb.1822EmmonsNorwich
A photograph of the species Carex bromoides, not of this specimenCarex bromoides Willd.1831Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Carex vesicaria, not of this specimenCarex vesicaria L.1836Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Carex vestita, not of this specimenCarex vestita Willd.1836Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Kalmia angustifolia, not of this specimenKalmia angustifolia f. angustifolia1838L. DeWetteNorthampton.
A photograph of the species Kalmia latifolia, not of this specimenKalmia latifolia var. latifolia1838L. DeWetteNorthampton.
A photograph of the species Pogonia ophioglossoides, not of this specimenPogonia ophioglossoides (L.) Ker Gawl.1838L. DeWetteNorthampton.
A photograph of the species Meleagris gallopavo, not of this specimenMeleagris gallopavo silvestris Vieillot, 18171847William D. WhitneyMount Tom
A photograph of the species Stellaria graminea, not of this specimenStellaria graminea L.1849not recorded

All 2,519 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

10 of 28 shown

The federal mineral resources record lists 28 workings within 5 miles of West Farms: 13 producers, 12 past producers, 2 occurrences, 1 prospect. 13 still produce. What was taken out: Brick Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Lead. 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
Argentine Galena VeinSilver, LeadOccurrenceGalena
LoudvilleMolybdenumOccurrenceWulfenite
Loudville Lead MineLead, Silver, Zinc, Copper, Barium-BariteProducerBarite, Galena
Loudville MineBarium-Barite, Lead, Silica, Silver, ZincPast Producer
Southhampton Barite VeinLead, Silver, Zinc, Copper, Barium-Barite, Fluorine-Fluorite, MolybdenumProducerBarite, Galena
Southhampton Barite VeinBarium-Barite, Copper, Lead, Zinc, SilverPast Producer
Wzorek PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Argentine Galena VeinLead, SilverProspect
Granite Rock QuarryStone, DimensionProducer
Granite Rock QuarryGranitePast Producer

Every working recorded in Hampshire County

Storms nearby

6 since 2020

The National Weather Service names West Farms in 6 storm reports between 2020 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind. 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
September 2025Thunderstorm WindWest Farms$10,000In Northampton, a tree was down on a house.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindWest Farms$2,600In Northampton, trees and power lines were down on Ryan Road and on Chestnut Street.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindWest Farms$2,000In Northampton, there was a tree down on a car on Sylvester Rd. A person was trapped but not injured.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindWest Farms$800In Northampton, a tree and wires were down on Westhampton Rd.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindWest Farms$300A tree, powerline wires, and a utility pole were downed on Sylvester Rd in Northampton.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindWest Farms-Multiple trees were downed from Burts Pitt Rd to Ryan Rd in Northampton.

Every storm recorded in Hampshire 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
Loudville2.0 miles42
Pine Grove2.3 miles42
Bay State2.9 miles42
Florence2.9 miles42
Leeds3.0 miles42
Westhampton3.2 miles37
Easthampton3.8 miles42
Northampton4.0 miles42

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 608819. 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.