Little River-Academy, TX

Little River-Academy is a Bell County city of 1,992 residents in the 2020 census, about ten miles south of Temple in the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metropolitan area. The hyphenated name tells you how the place came together: Little River grew near the confluence of the Leon and Lampasas rivers, while Academy developed around Main Street and State Highway 95. A frontier fort called Fort Griffin stood here in 1836, adding an older layer to the same crossroads. Academy ISD is the town's largest shared institution, with early childhood, elementary, intermediate, middle, and high school campuses along the local road network.

The district traces its roots to a Little River Academy school that opened in 1872, so the school system preserves the two-community origin in its name and institutions. City Hall and the City Annex sit along Evans and Main streets, and the city council meets monthly. For a newcomer, the practical map is two historic settlements joined into one city, with school campuses and municipal services gathered around the Academy side and Temple close enough to shape errands, work, and regional connections.