Lieffrans is a small commune in Haute-Saône and part of the Communauté de communes des Monts de Gy. INSEE counted 50 municipal residents in 2023 across the whole administrative commune, at 11.4 residents per square kilometre. The intercommunal directory still displays 61 residents without stating a reference year, so that undated figure should not be confused with the dated census. The contrast is a useful reminder to check the year and geographic unit behind every population number.
Water, ore and a documented industrial trace
Lieffrans has an unusually specific piece of local history in the official Annales des Mines. Two royal ordinances printed in 1830 record permissions granted in 1829 for hand-operated washing installations for iron ore. One, dated 7 January, concerned two existing washing pits on the watercourse called the Fontaine de la Voie de Neuvelle. A second, dated 21 January, authorized four more on the Fontaine de Faux, which the text says rose at a place called Le Jardinet in Lieffrans. These orders establish that ore washing was being organized around local water sources by 1829; they do not establish when extraction began, how much ore was processed or when the activity ended. The surviving administrative wording is more useful than a later, unreferenced story because it identifies the dates, equipment and named watercourses.
The present-day economic picture is modest in scale. INSEE lists two employer establishments at the end of 2024, one in construction and one in the combined public administration, education, health and social-work group; its 2023 workplace count is five jobs. These small statistical totals cover defined employer categories, not every resident’s work or household activity. For everyday services, the Monts de Gy directory points to Fretigney-et-Velloreille about five kilometres away for shops, health professionals and schools. The Lieffrans municipal office is listed at 6 rue des Douze-Deniers. The community page gives Friday morning office hours and an elected-representatives’ Saturday session on alternate weeks; confirm both before travelling because local schedules can change.
Routes in the wider area
The sources checked do not identify a waymarked visitor trail beginning in Lieffrans. The Monts de Gy tourism office does publish outdoor routes for the surrounding area: its circuit 55, for example, is a 16-kilometre mountain-bike loop with starts at Gy town hall or Autoreille town hall, not Lieffrans. It is a regional option rather than a village itinerary. Check the current map, surface and any closures with the tourism office before setting out.
