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History · Leeds

Leeds’ post office opened in 1887, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1900.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Leeds began

When was Leeds founded?

1887

The Leeds post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 349 in 19002020 census: 442139 years
Founding year: the first Leeds post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Leeds’ 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 Leeds are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 797 in 1960; 442 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leeds’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leeds’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
People over time

Leeds, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 797

Peaked at 797 in 1960; 442 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Leeds, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Leeds yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Leeds is a city in Benson County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 442 at the 2020 census. Leeds was founded in 1887 and named after Leeds, England. It was one of several sites along the Great Northern Railway's transcontinental route between Devils Lake and Minot that were named after places in England (the others were Berwick, Norwich, Penn, Rugby, Surrey, Tunbridge, and York).

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 427 to 442 (+4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Leeds, 1887 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Leeds post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 797
  5. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Leeds, decade by decade

Today15 recent
A tree line, useful as a windbreak, near a Leeds, North Dakota, icy lake2021A tree line, useful as a windbreak, near a Leeds, Nor…Leeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North DakotaLeeds, North Dakota2008Leeds, North Dakota
On the map

Leeds on the map, 1971 to 1980

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

Leeds on the 1971 USGS mapLeeds on the 1980 USGS map1971Leeds 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 Leeds.

Every building

Leeds, building by building, 1908–1918

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Leeds fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Leeds TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake Ibsen TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Leeds’ history

What year was Leeds founded?

The Leeds post office opened in 1887, 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 (14), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.