De Leon, TX

De Leon is a Comanche County railroad town named for the Leon River, not the Spanish explorer who often gets credit. The first lots were sold by Texas Central Railroad officials in 1881, and the line turned the town into an agricultural shipping point. After boll weevil changed local cotton farming, peanuts became the leading crop; a peanut mill was running by 1914, and De Leon later handled pecans, peaches, and melons as well. The Leon River lies northeast of town and flows into Proctor Lake, linking the city to a reservoir used for water supply and recreation.

Peanuts and fruit still shape the town’s calendar and memory. The De Leon Peanut Company’s six-story plant was completed in 1917 and could process up to ten railroad carloads of peanuts per day; the Peach and Melon Festival, begun in 1914, runs August 5–8 in 2026 with a tractor pull and other events. De Leon Independent School District serves the city, and State Highways 6 and 16 keep the old rail town connected across northeast Comanche County. The quick local read is crops, rail, river, and a festival that has been part of town life for more than a century.