"The Small Friendly German Town On The Dakota Prairie"
HOW WE BECAME A TOWN
The name Leipzig dates back to early 1015 in Germany. The Slavic word means “a settlement by the lime trees.” In 1813, the Emperor of Austria wanted to establish German colonies in Bessarabia.
Many immigrants from Eastern Europe moved onward & settled in the colonies that were established. Fifteen families of Leipzigers came by trains to the colony of Leipzig, settling there in 1843.
In the latter 1800's many colonists saw better opportunities in America. The Leipzigers from Leipzig, Bessarabia came to America & started a settlement named Leipzig, in Grant County, in 1896.
The one problem for the settlers was that they were too far from the railroads. So in 1910, when the Northern Pacific Railroad was constructed 11 miles southwest of Leipzig, the German-Russians moved down to the railroad & established there the settlement that was to become New Leipzig.