Leith ( ) is a city in Grant County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 28 at the 2020 census.
History
Leith was founded in 1910 along a Milwaukee Road branch line that separated from the railroad's Pacific Extension in McLaughlin, South Dakota, and ran to New England, North Dakota. The name was given by railroad officials and comes from the harbor town of Leith near Edinburgh, Scotland. This line was abandoned in 1984, isolating Leith, as none of the primary highways in the area were constructed to go through the city.
Neo-Nazis
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In 2011, a white supremacist named Craig Cobb began buying land in Leith, owning at least 12 plots of land by September 2013. Cobb wanted to move in other white supremacists so he could gain an electoral majority, take over the city government, and transform Leith into a neo-Nazi stronghold. This initiative was strongly supported by the National Socialist Movement (NSM), which was considered at the time to be the largest and most prominent neo-Nazi organization in the United States, but was strongly opposed by locals. Some locals advocated disincorporating the town to prevent Cobb's takeover. On September 22, 2013, an anti-racist protest was held in Leith. The protest drew hundreds of participants, mostly Native Americans from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and other nearby reservations. It was held on the same day an NSM meeting was scheduled in Leith. In November 2013, Cobb and one of his followers were arrested after confronting another resident with a shotgun and a rifle.
In February 2014, Cobb accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to four years of supervised probation. He was fitted with an ankle monitor and banned from returning to Leith. Today, Cobb no longer owns any buildings in Leith. He deeded six properties back to the town at no charge and sold off a few others. Three were still owned by other white supremacists, but they showed little inclination to take up where Cobb left off.
After two people suspected of ties to Cobb were elected to the city council in June 2018, mayor Ryan Schock circulated a petition to disincorporate Leith. Both of them denied having any affiliations with Cobb or with any white supremacist movements. The Grant County commission subsequently cleared the way for a referendum on July 23, 2018 on dissolving the city. However, due to concerns that the original date was earlier than Century Code (state statutes) permitted, the vote was moved to November 6, the day of the 2018 midterm elections. As of July 2024, the city of Leith was still listed on the website of Grant County.
Geography
Although Leith is legally termed a city, under North Dakota law, it can be described as a hamlet in geographic terms. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Leith is located approximately southwest of Carson.