Leakey School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Leakey School, and friend, this is one of those stories that just keeps on growing. Way back in the mid-1850s, settlers were arriving in the Leakey area, which was part of Bandera County at the time. No grand schoolhouse waiting for them, no manicured campus; folks educated their children right there in their own homes.

But even then, early schoolhouses did exist, one near the home of John and Nancy Leakey themselves, and another out at Brooks Springs. Education, it seems, was never an afterthought around here. Now, 1883 is a year worth remembering in this story.

Two big things happened that year. The Leakeys deeded land near this very site to three men: John L. Avant, W.B.

Burditt, and J.B. Johnson, representing the Floral School Community. And that community was no small operation.

It carried within it the Floral Academy, a cemetery, a Sunday school, and a post office. The whole fabric of a community, wrapped around the idea of learning. That same year, the State Legislature established Edwards County, and the very next year (1884) the community of Leakey became its county seat.

Then comes 1887, and the Floral School property, sitting right there on Schoolhouse Square, was transferred to Edwards County officials to serve as the Leakey School. A new name, a new purpose, the same stubborn commitment. Now, county seats have a way of wandering in Texas.

In 1891, the seat moved over to Rocksprings. You might think that would slow things down. It did not.

The Leakey School kept right on growing. And then in 1913, the Legislature created Real County, and Leakey stepped back into the role of county seat once again. This place had a habit of landing on its feet.

In 1919, Real County Judge Ed Kelly established the Leakey Independent School District, making it official in the way that only paperwork can. A.G. Weston donated a site for a new school building, and that building opened in 1922.

Eight years later, in 1930, the district constructed a larger school still. That same year, students from West Frio started coming to Leakey for their classes. And once consolidation took hold, it really took hold.

Cypress Creek, Rio Frio, Eexile, Stanford, Dry Frio, Harper; school after school folded into the Leakey district over the years. Out near the Divide Community, the district also maintained the Dietert School for children in that area, making sure no corner of the county was left behind. By 1941, the Leakey district had adopted a full 12th-grade system, and it kept adding programs and facilities from there.

From a handful of home lessons in the mid-1850s to a full independent school district serving the whole of Real County, that's not just a school, that's a community deciding, generation after generation, that its children were worth the trouble. Every year, alumni come back together for reunions to celebrate exactly that. Some things in Texas are just built to last.

What the marker says

Settlers arrived in the Leakey area, then part of Bandera County, in the mid-1850s. Many educated their children in their own homes, and early schoolhouses also existed near the John and Nancy Leakey home and at Brooks Springs. In 1883, the Leakeys deeded land near this site to John l. Avant, W.B. Burditt and J.B. Johnson of the Floral School Community, which included the Floral Academy, cemetery, Sunday school and post office. The State Legislature established Edwards County in 1883, and the Community of Leakey became the county seat the next year. In 1887, the Floral School property, on Schoolhouse Square, was transferred to Edwards County officials for use as the Leakey School. Although the county seat moved to Rocksprings in 1891, the Leakey School continued to grow. When the Legislature created Real County in 1913, Leakey again served as a county seat. In 1919, Real County Judge Ed Kelly established the Leakey Independent School District. A.G. Weston donated a site for a new school building, which opened in 1922. The district constructed a larger school in 1930. That same year, West Frio students began attending classes in Leakey. Other schools, including Cypress Creek, Rio Frio, Eexile, Stanford, Dry Frio, and Harper, later consolidated with Leakey schools. The district also maintained the Dietert School for children near the Divide Community. In 1941, the Leakey district adopted a 12th-grade system, and over the years added additional programs and facilities for area children. Annual reunions bring alumni together to celebrate the community and its commitment to education. (2004)