[3] English colonists first settled in Leyden in 1737 as part of "Fall Town", which also included Bernardston and Colrain.

[5] The Dorrellites, a utopian sect founded and led by William Dorrell, was active in Leyden in the 1790s.

[6] Leyden lies on the northern Massachusetts border, south of Windham County, Vermont.

The town is bordered by Guilford, Vermont, to the north, Bernardston to the east, Greenfield to the south, and Colrain to the west.

The nearest national air service is at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Leyden employs the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a board of selectmen and an administrative assistant.

In the Massachusetts Senate, the town is part of the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester district, represented by Joanne Comerford.

[19] Leyden is part of the Eighth Massachusetts Governor's Council district and is represented by Tara Jacobs.

[20] The town is patrolled by the Second (Shelburne Falls) Station of Troop "B" of the Massachusetts State Police.

John Olver of Amherst who represented the town in the House from June 1991 to January 2013, retired when redistricting placed him and Rep. Neal in the same district.

Leyden is a member of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District, which includes several northern border towns to the east.