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History · Leeds

Leeds’ post office opened in 1853, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1901 on and old-book passages.

1853first post office
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Praiawart · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Leeds began

When was Leeds founded?

1853

The Leeds post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, North Leeds (1857), Leeds Centre (1858) and Keyeser (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 755173 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.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Leeds, and 3 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19013 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1984. Watch Leeds change.Old housesHalf of Leeds’ homes were built before 1938.
★ 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Leeds had its own post office from 1853 to 1900. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Leeds
1853–1900
North Leeds
1857–1903
Leeds Centre
1858–1900
Keyeser
1877–1908
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KeyeserLeeds CenterNorth Leeds
Gone or out of use
Wanger-In Airportairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Leeds
GreenwoodLeeds CenterSpring Prairie - HaugeSpring Prairie LutheranZion

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

On the map

Leeds on the map, 1901 to 1984

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 1901 USGS mapLeeds on the 1962 USGS mapLeeds on the 1984 USGS map1901Poynette sheet · 1:62,500

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

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 town in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 755 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Keyeser, Leeds, Leeds Center, and North Leeds are located in the town. The town took its name from the city of Leeds, England.

Its first post office opened in 1853. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 774 to 755 (-2%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Leeds, 1880–1914

Passages that mention Leeds, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The town of Leeds was organized in 1850, and comprised all of Township 10, Range 10, and the east half of Township 10, Range 9. In 1855, the latter portion of the town was set off to Arlington, leaving the town of Leeds one full township.
The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement ..1880 · page 761Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Leeds was organized in 1850, and comprised all of Township 10, Range 10, and the east half of Township 10, Range 9. In 1855, the latter portion of the town was set off to Arlington, leaving the town of Leeds one full township.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Town op Leeds Like Caledonia, the Town of Leeds is almost entirely agricultural. No effort has ever been made to locate a village within its limits, although at an early day Leeds. North Leeds, Leeds Center and Eeyser were established as postoffices, but, with the later coming of the rural delivery…
A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin1914 · page 406Read the page →
Read the text

Town op Leeds Like Caledonia, the Town of Leeds is almost entirely agricultural. No effort has ever been made to locate a village within its limits, although at an early day Leeds. North Leeds, Leeds Center and Eeyser were established as postoffices, but, with the later coming of the rural delivery, its facilities of intercommunication have been sufficient.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Leeds is an agricultural town. No effort has ever been made to locate a village within its boundaries, but now its inhabitants are well supplied with mail facilities, there then being four post offices in the town — Leeds, North Leeds, Leeds Center, and Keyser.
The history of Columbia county, Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement ..1880 · page 759Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Leeds is an agricultural town. No effort has ever been made to locate a village within its boundaries, but now its inhabitants are well supplied with mail facilities, there then being four post offices in the town — Leeds, North Leeds, Leeds Center, and Keyser.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first Norwegian Church edifice was a small log house in the Town of Otsego, built in the summer of 1853. In June of that year the cornerstone of the church in the Town of Leeds was also laid. In 1866 the Bonnet Prairie Congregation erected a meeting house of stone, and the Lodi Church erected a…
A history of Columbia County, Wisconsin1914 · page 165Read the page →
Read the text

The first Norwegian Church edifice was a small log house in the Town of Otsego, built in the summer of 1853. In June of that year the cornerstone of the church in the Town of Leeds was also laid. In 1866 the Bonnet Prairie Congregation erected a meeting house of stone, and the Lodi Church erected a brick edifice in 1871. At that time there were 280 families in the various congregations connected with the parish.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Leeds, 1853 to 1903

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Leeds post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe North Leeds post office opens
  4. 1858Post officeThe Leeds Centre post office opens
  5. 1889Born hereOscar Rennebohm is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900Post officeThe Leeds post office closes
  8. 1900Post officeThe Leeds Centre post office closes
  9. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1903Post officeThe North Leeds post office closes
By decade

Leeds, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Leeds 20242024Leeds 2024Dairy Farm near2016Dairy Farm nearZion Evangelical Lutheran Church2013Zion Evangelical Lutheran ChurchDairy Farm in2013Dairy Farm inWIMap-doton-Leeds2004WIMap-doton-Leeds
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

ArlingtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHampdenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWindsorIts storyC+LowvilleIts storyB+

Questions about Leeds’ history

What year was Leeds founded?

The Leeds post office opened in 1853, 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 (5), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.