Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Leal

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Leal

Leal’s post office opened in 1892, and 58% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1920.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Leal began

When was Leal founded?

1892

The Leal post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 88 in 19202020 census: 27134 years
Founding year: the first Leal post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Leal’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Leal are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Leal’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 105 in 1930; 27 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leal’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leal’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Leal came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leal.

Read it all →

Scottish-English emigrants from Ontario, Canada, originally settled in this area in 1883. The townsite of Leal was platted in 1892, and a post office established December 28, 1892. Officials with the Soo Line Railroad established a station here in 1902.

Leal incorporated as a village in 1917 from part of Edna Township. It became a city in 1967, after the North Dakota Legislature eliminated incorporation titles for villages and towns. As a result, all incorporated municipalities in North Dakota automatically adopted a city form of government.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Leal, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 105

Peaked at 105 in 1930; 27 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Leal’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Leal, 1892 to 1975

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Leal post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1929Born hereStanley N. Thorup is born here
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 105
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1975Post officeThe Leal post office closes
By decade

Leal, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Park in2008Park inLeal, North Dakota2008Leal, North DakotaNDMap-doton-Leal2004NDMap-doton-Leal
On the map

Leal on the map, 1961 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Leal. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Leal on the 1961 USGS mapLeal on the 1985 USGS map1961Leal sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Leal.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Leal had its own post office from 1892 to 1975.

Leal
1892–1975
18901960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Leal’s history

What year was Leal founded?

The Leal post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.