St. Leo’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of St. Leo. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In 1889, the Benedictines established the Holy Name Monastery, Saint Leo Abbey, and St. Leo College on Judge Edmund F. Dunne's former homestead and farmland east of San Antonio, Florida on the shores of Lake Jovita, later incorporating the area as part of a new town called St. Leo.
Dunne was a legal counsel involved in the Disston Land Purchase of 1881, and as his commission, received 100,000 choice acres (400 km2) of land out of the 4,000,000 acre (16,000 km2) purchase. The following year on February 15, while surveying the Disston Purchase with his cousin, Captain Hugh Dunne, Dunne selected the area around Lake Jovita, which he named after St. Jovita, as his commission and began settling it.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart St. Leo’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Leo’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District …, 1880: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10St. Leo, decade by decade
1930s
![Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/2127/cf7d9015bbf013dac3fe-s.jpg)
![Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/2127/b3acb9eedbdbce7d417d-s.jpg)
1990s
CommonsOld WB FL 52 from Saint Leo to San Antonio; Feb-2023-022023
CommonsOld WB FL 52 from Saint Leo to San Antonio; Feb-2023-012023
CommonsHoly Name Monastery2022
CommonsEB FL 52 @ PCR 579; 1975 VW Campmobile in Saint Leo2019
CommonsSt. Leo SR 52 west012009
CommonsSt. Leo SR 52 east012009
CommonsSt. Leo FL town hall012009
CommonsSt. Leo FL town hall sign012009Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Florida (FL) - Pasco County - St. Leo - ED 51-1 to 7 (1880) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (11) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.