LEONA, TEXAS. Leona is at the intersection of Farm Road 977, State Highway 75, and Interstate Highway 45, six miles south of Centerville in Leon County. In the mid-1800s the Texas legislature directed the people of Leon County to choose a site for the county seat and call it Leona. Court was held at the home of Moses Campbell until a courthouse could be built. A post office opened in 1846 with James C. Boggs as postmaster. In October 1850, after hearings had reached the Supreme Court of Texas, Leona lost its status as county seat to the more centrally located Centerville. In 1907–08 Leona had one school for white students and two schools for black students. Population statistics given for the town range from 150 in 1844 to fifty in 1896. In 1933 the town had a population of 200 and fourteen businesses. The population declined to 91 in 1980 but then rose to 165 in 1982. In 1990 Leona had one business and a population of 178. The population was 181 in 2000.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A Journal of Leon County History, Spring 1981. Leon County Historical Book Survey Committee, History of Leon County (Dallas: Curtis Media, 1986). Zoraster Robert Robinson, Proposed Plan for the Reorganization of the Schools of Leon County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1941).
