Leon Junction, Texas

Leon Junction is an unincorporated community in Coryell County, in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 25 in 2000. It is located within the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metropolitan area.

History
The area in what is known as Leon Junction today was first settled in the early 1880s. It was given this name for the river and a Lampasas railroad that had never been built, but it did have a track from the Texas and St. Louis Railway that traveled between Waco and Gatesville in 1882. A post office was established at Leon Junction that next year with Jackson Thomason as postmaster. The community had 50 residents and three general stores in the mid-1890s. Local farmers shipped cotton. The settlement's peak of prosperity was in the early 1900s. In 1914, the population was 100 then lost three-quarters of it in the 1930s. The railroad track was abandoned in 1972. The post office and another business remained in the 1980s. The population remained at 25 from the early 1990s through 2000.

Geography
Leon Junction is located on Farm to Market Road 931 and the Leon River, 10 mi southeast of Gatesville in eastern Coryell County.

Education
In 1904, New Olive School had 75 students and two teachers. Today, the community is served by the Gatesville Independent School District.

Notable person
Jack Thornton, basketball player.