Leith (North Dakota)
| Leith | |
|---|---|
 Location in North Dakota
|
|
| Basic data | |
| Foundation : | 1910 |
| State : | United States |
| State : | North Dakota |
| County : | Grant County |
| Coordinates : | 46 ° 22 ′ N , 101 ° 38 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Mountain ( UTC − 7 / −6 ) |
| Residents : | 16 (as of 2010) |
| Population density : | 5 inhabitants per km 2 |
| Area : | 3.21 km 2 (approx. 1 mi 2 ) of which 3.19 km 2 (approx. 1 mi 2 ) is land |
| Height : | 714 m |
| Postal code : | 58529 |
| FIPS : | 38-45860 |
| GNIS ID : | 1029862 |
| Mayor : | Ryan shock |
Leith [ ˈliːθ ] is a town in Grant County in the US state of North Dakota .
The next larger town is the administrative seat of the county, Carson (North Dakota), about 8 km to the northeast, with a population of almost 300.
history
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1920 | 158 |
| 1930 | 174 |
| 1940 | 166 |
| 1950 | 160 |
| 1960 | 100 |
| 1970 | 92 |
| 1980 | 59 |
| 1990 | 43 |
| 2000 | 28 |
| 2010 | 16 |
Leith was founded in 1909/1910 at a station on a branch line ( McLaughlin (South Dakota) - New England (North Dakota) ) of the network of the Milwaukee Road railway company. The name of the "Stadt" (City) led municipality is derived from the Scottish port city of Leith .
The population grew quickly to around 150 to 175 and remained at this level until around 1950, after which it began to decline sharply and continuously. In 1984 the railway ceased operations. Since then, the village has been relatively remote 5 km from the nearest country road. At the time of the 2010 census, 16 people were still living in eight households in Leith. Accordingly, the village is characterized by unused land and buildings.
Attempted takeover by racists
Events
In 2012, right-wing activist Craig Cobb moved to Leith and began buying up more plots in the village. His goal was to take over power in the city administration through further influx of white followers of the white supremacy doctrine and to form a purely white settlement of like-minded people according to its own rules. The mayor said that the city council wanted to formally dissolve the city if there was a risk that the people around Cobb could gain a majority in the council. Conflicts with long-time residents led u. a. to a six month jail sentence for Cobb. Cobb then gave up the project, and in 2015 it was announced that he was instead making a new attempt in the 28-inhabitant city of Antler (North Dakota) .
In April 2018, the legal requirement that Cobb was no longer allowed to enter Leith expired. Since then there have been neo-Nazi incidents in the village again. With 12 votes from the 18 voters, the city administration was repealed and Leith was placed under the administration of the district. Mayor Ryan Schock called a vote on the future status of Leith.
reception
The events surrounding the takeover attempt were portrayed by Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker in their documentary Welcome to Leith , which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival . The German writer Markus K. Korb chose the settlement of neo-Nazis in Leith as the real background for his fictional horror story AmeriKKan GotiK , which appeared in 2017 as part of an anthology with the same title.
Web links
- Neo-Nazis in the desert ( memento from November 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Video blog contribution by NDR correspondent Karin Dohr about Leith and the white racists who settled there
Individual evidence
- ↑ United States Census Bureau : Census of Population and Housing . Retrieved August 23, 2013.
- ^ New Neighbor's Agenda: White Power Takeover New York Times Online, August 29, 2013
- ↑ More white supremacists move to Leith Bismarck Tribune Online of October 23, 2013
- ↑ White supremacist wants to take over, rename town after Donald Trump ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Article by Adrian Glass-Moore, August 14, 2015, in the Grand Forks Herald (online) about Cobb's new attempt in Antler, ND
- ↑ Samantha Schmidt: The mayor of tiny North Dakota town shaken by neo-Nazi wants to dissolve city government. The Washington Post dated June 27, 2018
- ↑ 'Welcome to Leith' Tells of the Day the Nazis Came to Town Chris Barsanti, www.popmatters.com, from August 31, 2015
- ↑ Markus K. Korb: Amerikkan Gotik: dark stories from the dark heart of America. Luzifer-Verlag 2017, from position 629. ISBN 978-3958350571
