De Leon

History

The town was laid out in April 1881 by surveying crews of the Texas Central Railway as part of the historic Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (KATY) as it constructed a line from Ross just north of the Waco area, to Stamford, with the ultimate goal of extending the line to Colorado. The first city lots were auctioned on July 7, 1881, by Robert Morris Elgin, the Texas Central's land agent and for whom the town of Elgin had been named. Initially incorporated by an election held on August 30, 1890, the town government appears to have dwindled over the years, and the community was reincorporated in an election held August 29, 1899. The first mayor elected under the new incorporation was former Comanche County Judge John Lambert, who took office in April 1900. After a murder that led to the lynching of a Black suspect, the white residents of Comanche County visited all black residents and told them to leave the county within 10 days. In fact, the lack of Black population was later a source of civic pride. At the railroad station, a sign read "Nigger, don't let the sun go down on you in this town." Black porters would hide in the baggage cars in Comanche County. De Leon then became the center point for the Katy between Waco, Albany, and Cross Plains, thereby relocating numerous railroad crew members and their families to the city. The census of 1910 showed 1,015 citizens. De Leon continues to retain its rail service and the former Texas Central Katy line from Dublin to Gorman, nicknamed the "Peanut Line", is currently operated by the Fort Worth and Western Railroad. On Labor Day night 1918, oil was discovered north of De Leon just inside the Comanche County line near Desdemona. During the next two years, nearly 1000 wells were drilled in the area, and the population of De…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. The Köppen climate classification describes the weather as humid subtropical, Cfa.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  332
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  329
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  286
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  246
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  228
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  180
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  179
• American Kestrel

  Falco sparverius Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  169