Leon’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Leon. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Center Township was organized as part of the formation of the county on 1 April 1850. Because Decatur City was inaccessible to the rest of the county during the area's periodic floods, a majority of the county voted to move the county seat to a nearby location east of the Little River. Because the residents of Decatur City refused to respect the results of the vote, the county records were stolen and moved by ox-drawn wagon under cover of darkness. The new settlement was originally named Independence, but that name was soon discovered to have already been taken by another town in Buchanan County. It was then renamed South Independence before the state legislator and veteran W.H. Cheevers successfully argued for renaming it Leon in honor of the Jewish "Fighting Doctor" David Camden de Leon in 1855.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Leon’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leon’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo1 archive item has no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewBessie Parker farm, Leon, Iowa. E…, 1939: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Leon
See all 8 →
Leon, decade by decade
1990s
unknown1 item
1 historic place in Leon
1 place in Leon is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Bessie Parker farm, Leon, Iowa. Erosion reduced value of the farm (1939) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4) and the Library of Congress (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.