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History · Leakey

Leakey’s post office opened in 1883, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1960.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Leakey’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Leakey began

When was Leakey founded?

1883

The Leakey post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 587 in 19602020 census: 315143 years
Founding year: the first Leakey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Leakey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leakey.

Read it all →

Archaeological excavations in the Frio Canyon region revealed Paleo-American, Archaic, and Neo-American occupations. Later, several Native American tribes, including Lipan Apache, Comanche, and Tonkawa inhabited or traversed the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leakey, 1883 to 1972

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Leakey post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1972In the archiveA NATURAL SPRING PHOTOGRAPHED AT ITS SOURCE
By decade

Leakey, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s6 items
A NATURAL SPRING PHOTOGRAPHED AT ITS SOURCE1972A NATURAL SPRING PHOTOGRAPHED AT ITS SOURCEAUTUMN TREES1972AUTUMN TREESDEER STORAGE1972DEER STORAGEHUNTER'S JEEP1972HUNTER'S JEEPLeakey Drug Store1972Leakey Drug StoreLEAKEY RESIDENTS. THE HARMONICA PLAYER IS 93 YEARS OLD1972LEAKEY RESIDENTS. THE HARMONICA PLAYER IS 93 YEARS OLD
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Leakey on the map, 1971 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Leakey. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Leakey on the 1971 USGS mapLeakey on the 1985 USGS map1971Leakey sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Leakey.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

A NATURAL SPRING PHOTOGRAPHED AT ITS SOURCE
Retake this viewA NATURAL SPRING PHOTOGRAPHED AT ITS SOURCE, 1972

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Leakey’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Leakey, census by census

01002003004005006001960198020002020Peak: 587

Between 315 and 587 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Leakey’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Leakey

Nobody well known was born in Leakey itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Johnny RodriguezAmerican singer · b. 1951
Mariette Rheiner GarnerSecond Lady of the United States · b. 1869
Paul J. KildayAmerican politician · b. 1900
S
Sue May GillAmerican artist · b. 1887
Gordon MaltzbergerAmerican baseball player · b. 1912
R
Reba Z. WhittleUnited States Army nurse and prisoner of war · b. 1919
Help out

Finish Leakey’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewA NATURAL SPRING PHOTOGRAPHED AT ITS SO…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Leakey’s history

What year was Leakey founded?

The Leakey post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.