DIVOT, TEXAS. Divot is at the intersection of Farm roads 1581 and 117, nine miles northwest of Dilley in southwest Frio County. It was originally known as Leona Settlement because of its location near the Leona River. Evidence suggests that the earliest school in the area, Leona School, was a schoolhouse on wheels. Records from 1906 show eighty-nine students and three teachers there. J. J. King established a store at the site in 1908, and the name of the community was changed to Kingsville. Upon application for a post office in 1910, a new name had to be chosen, and Pivot was selected because the settlement was at a crossroads. But through a mistake, the name Divot was assigned.

By 1914 King owned a general store and was still postmaster. A cotton gin was constructed near the store around this time. The population of Divot remained steady at ten throughout the 1920s, and by 1929 the community comprised a school and scattered dwellings. In 1946 the population was estimated at thirty-five; the Leona school district had been annexed to the Dilley Independent School District. In 1948 two schools and three businesses were in operation in the community. In 1971 the population was twenty-eight. By 1974 Divot had two churches (one abandoned) and scattered buildings. In 1990 the community consisted of a well-kept Catholic Church, five family dwellings, and an abandoned red brick schoolhouse.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Frio County, Texas: A History (Pearsall, Texas: Frio Pioneer Jail Museum Association, 1979). Pearsall Leader, May 24, 1935. Vertical Files, Pearsall Public Library, Pearsall, Texas (Frio County).

Ruben E. Ochoa