More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #400 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Leander was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2013. Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1980.
The Leander post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Bagdad (1855) and Nameless (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 2,179 in 19802020 census: 59,202144 years
How historic is Leander?
D
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Leander post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Leander’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leander is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #400 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Leander’s overall grade.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Leander’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Leander’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Leander was established in 1882 on land sold by the Austin and Northwestern Railroad Co. to prospective citizens. The town was named in honor of Leander "Catfish" Brown, one of the railroad officials responsible for the completion of the line.
Tumlinson Fort, the first Anglo-American settlement in Williamson County, was established in early January 1836 at the headwaters of Brushy Creek, four miles south of present-day Leander. With the purpose of protecting settlers from attacks by the Comanche, a company of Texas Rangers occupied the post until late February, when the invasion of Santa Anna made abandoning the post necessary, soon after which it was burned by the Comanche.
Passages that mention Leander, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Early history of Texas. Early history of Williamson County. The Webster massacre. Williamson County Court House sketches. Sketches of early days in Taylor1920Read the page →
Read the text
severely wounded. The Indians withdrew for a 'Lime and the Webster party retraced their steps in the direction of the Colorado river settlement. When they reached the South Gabriel between the present locations of Liberty Hill and Leander a consultation was held and some of the party advised making a stand against the Indians at this place where they had the protection of a high bluff. Webster contended that they would lose their live s’tock if they remained and advised traveling by night in order to reach the settlement before a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Leander, 1855 to 1998
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Leander post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Leander rank for history?
Leander is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #400 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Leander?
0.3% of Leander’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2013.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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