Stoneleigh Ranch

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Stoneleigh Ranch, out here in Kerr County. Now, every good ranch has a story that starts somewhere unexpected, and this one starts in Missouri. George L.

Leigh was a Missouri man, and sometime around 1878 he made his way to Kerr County, not chasing cattle or gold, but chasing his health. That's what the marker tells us: he came here for health reasons. Whatever was ailing him, the Hill Country air must have agreed with him, because the man got to work.

First thing he did was open a mercantile establishment down in Center Point, about three and a half miles south of where we're standing. He went into business with a fellow named James Sellers. And if runnin' a store wasn't enough to keep him busy, he also served a term as county tax assessor.

George Leigh was a man who kept his hands full. Then came 1883, and that's where this particular piece of land enters the picture. Leigh purchased a 640-acre tract right here.

Six hundred and forty acres is a solid start, but George had bigger ideas, and he had family willing to help him see them through. His brother Edward came alongside him, and together they pushed that holding well past three thousand acres. On that land, Leigh ran a dairy and raised racing horses.

Think about that combination for a second. Milk in the morning, thoroughbreds in the afternoon. There's a certain poetry to it.

George L. Leigh died in 1901, but the ranch carried on. The land, the name, the legacy, it all stayed in the family.

And for a stretch, from 1936 to 1943, the place took on a new kind of life as a guest ranch. The name itself carries weight. Stoneleigh.

It wasn't invented out on these Texas hills. It came from the Leigh family's ancestral home in England. That old world name planted right here in the Hill Country.

Stoneleigh Ranch remained in the Leigh family until 1960. A Missouri man's health brought him west, and what he built here lasted the better part of a century under the same family name. Some legacies you don't have to chase.

You just tend them.

What the marker says

Missouri native George L. Leigh (d. 1901) moved to Kerr County in 1878 for health reasons. He opened a mercantile establishment in Center Point (3.5 mi. S) with James Sellers and later served one term as county tax assessor. In 1883 he purchased a 640-acre tract here. With the help of his brother Edward, he enlarged the site to include over three thousand acres. Here Leigh ran a dairy and raised racing horses. From 1936 to 1943 the land was used as a guest ranch. Named for the ancestral home in England, the Stoneleigh Ranch remained in the Leigh family until 1960. (1980)