My Town ---- Part 2

New Leipzig - what's so special about New Leipzig? Probably not much by many standards.

This small, very rural community on the plains of southwestern North Dakota isn't much different from any of the other small, very rural communities in the area. Elgin, Carson, Mott, Leith, Heil, Bentley, Hebron, Glen Ullin, Almont, Flasher, Solen, Fort Yates, Regent, New England....am I forgetting anyone? Some are a little bigger. Some are a little smaller. They all share a common bond -- they are small town rural America. They represent what some consider to be a dying iconic representation of times past in this nation. They continue to survive with grit, with determination, and with resolve.

It has its Main Street, its obligatory businesses, and residential areas, albeit smallish overall. There is no hospital or medical clinic.

There are a number of churches of different denominations in the town. The school is long gone, and the population has seen a decline over the years.

So, what makes it special? Is it special? To me, it is because it's MY town. It's special to those who still live there. It's special to those who've lived there in the past, and who chose to move away for whatever reason. It's where they grew up. It's where their lives took shape. It's who they ultimately became. And that's important, very important.

New Leipzig was established in 1910. Wow! 103 years old. I still remember the 50th anniversary celebration in 1960! Doesn't seem all that long ago. But then, I guess I'm getting a lot older, too.

The original town of Leipzig was established earlier along the banks of a small creek further north than the present day site. The creek, Antelope Creek, was probably a much more scenic location but it offered little in the way of business development or residential growth. When the railroad decided to come on through, the whole town of Leipzig moved. The new town was called......wait for it......New Leipzig.

I won't go into any more of the history of this small, quaint, still thriving community in this blog. Rather, I'll direct readers to the website for New Leipzig's history if you are so inclined.

The focus of this blog is on what it's like to have grown up in this community, to have had my life shaped by events that, had I been born in a large, metropolitan city, would have been much different. There were similarities, in some respects, but the differences far outweighed those likenesses.

This is a rural community, of that there can be no doubt. The main source of income is directly related to, and irrevocably intertwined, with agriculture.


Sure, there are other "industries" in this community, but, by and large, they also depend on agriculture in some way, shape, or form, for their very existence.

It's been said by some that rural folk have a different mentality. I guess that would all depend on whether or not you're one of those rural folk. Regardless, I believe those of us who grew up rural keep a part of that lifestyle, that mentality with us for life. I'm still uncomfortable in an urban, metropolitan environment even though I lived and worked there for a good portion of my life.

My brother, Clayton (another post will be dedicated to him later), was very uncomfortable in his rural setting. He couldn't wait to get out and spread his wings elsewhere. As he grew older, though, he was inexorably drawn back to his roots. His reminiscences were of a childhood laced with good times and good memories in New Leipzig, North Dakota. His ashes were spread by family on our Dad's land south of town - just as he wanted.

My parents, may they both rest in peace, lived and worked in this community until their retirement in 1982 at which time they traveled the country looking for just the right retirement spot. They ultimately found it in a remote, very rural spot in Arizona. When it became apparent their age was not going to allow them to live so far away from family any longer, they moved to Littleton, Colorado. They knew it had to be done, but they were never completely comfortable in their new environs.

I can remember farmers in the New Leipzig area moving to town after their retirement, and not lasting very long after. We were fortunate enough to have our parents around for quite a few years after they moved here. I believe being close to family had something to do with that - or at least I hope it did.

Generation after generation has been born, raised, nurtured, lived, aged, matured, and ultimately died in New Leipzig. Everyone knows everyone else, although when I look now at some of the names in the Grant County News, I don't recognize some of them. But faces familiar to us in our youth stay with us for life. High school classmates, family friends and relatives, ALL remain familiar no matter where everyone is now located.

And so it goes.

Subject Ideas

Well, folks, this is one of those posts where I ask for feedback, ideas, suggestions, and recommendations. Since beginning this journey, many possibilities came flooding back into memories I hadn't thought about in, well, almost forever. So, I've been creating draft posts as a sort of reminder of things to talk about. Here it is:


Gravel Roads
Thunderstorms & Tornadoes
School Field Trips
"Askhole!!!!!!"
Fort Builders extraordinaire
Beaver Dams and Cottonwood Trees
Ice Skating
Antelope Creek
Big Bro, Clayton
Motorcycle Gang!
Warm Summer Nights Atop the Water Tower
The Cannonball River
Eisenglass Hill
Main Street
Basketball
Heim Hills
Bible School
The Sandhills
BLIZZARD!!!!

Others will be added as I think of them. I know you have your own thoughts and memories, some of them similar to these if not interconnected by virtue of growing up in New Leipzig (or somewhere close). So, if any of these items trigger a memory for you, please let me know and I'll be sure to add it to the ever growing and dynamic list.

My Town --- Part 1

My town is New Leipzig, North Dakota.

It's not a very big town. In fact, the population of New Leipzig has gone from about 350 people when I left way back in 1967 upon graduation from high school down to 274 hearty souls that live there now. Some people like to joke that includes dogs, cats, and chickens.

New Leipzig is located almost at the intersection of Highways 21 and 49 in southwestern North Dakota. The reason it's located where it is is because of the railroad.

There's really nothing too special about my town to most people simply because they haven't ever been there, nor have they ever heard of it. There are even people who live in North Dakota who've never heard of New Leipzig.

The history of New Leipzig is relatively short given that many towns all over the country were founded a LOT sooner than 1910. But it's MY history, too. That's what makes it special to me.

All of us have towns we come from. It doesn't matter if we lived at one time on a farm, a ranch, in an urban or suburban area, or even if we still do. We have a town we associate our formative lives with. Farmers and ranchers within a certain area associate with New Leipzig. Other farmers and ranchers associate themselves with Elgin, others still with Mott, Carson, Flasher, and a whole lot of others where I hail from. But everyone has their own town.

That's what this blog is going to be about...my town...your town...and, ultimately, our town. I'll share my stories, my memories. I hope you'll share yours. It doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter if we've never heard of each other before. Our histories are unique, special.

Awhile back, I decided to write a book on the history of my Father's generation. Here's the cover:

Writing this book was a treasure for me. It included an interview with my Dad that I'll never forget. At some point, after it's been digitized, I may just share it in this blog.

The point? It got me thinking that unless we tell our own stories, they'll be lost to the next generation. If it's as hard for some as it was for me to get my Dad to sit down and talk about his own past, this becomes even more important. His generation, beset by hardships even my generation has no comprehension of, didn't think of themselves as having anything to say that might be "worth it" to anyone. They couldn't have been more mistaken. The stories they told were, and still are, fascinating!

Our stories are, too. We just don't know it yet. I'm not sure if we get more nostalgic the older we get, but I'm sure starting to reminisce a lot and to think about experiences I haven't thought about pretty much since they happened.

So, if you'd like to share your stories, you can do it one of two ways. You can email me your text, and I'll post it in the blog as your story - your town. Or, you can post in the comments, but you'll need to register if you haven't already set up a Google account.

My email for this blog is zhawke2002@gmail.com.