Leakey School

The district has always served a ranching county. In 1982, 83 percent of Real County's land was in farms and ranches, only about 2 percent was irrigated, and 97 percent of farm income came from livestock, chiefly cattle, sheep and Angora goats. Manufacturing employed about 3 percent of workers, and tourism, with 117 workers, employed more than any other industry. The Handbook of Texas notes that the uplands were probably rich grassland until the middle of the nineteenth century; live oak, Ashe juniper and mesquite now cover the ridges, uplands and escarpment.

What the plaque says

Leakey School 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)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Real County Historical Museum — 0.2 mi
  A small county museum in Leakey, at the head of the Frio Canyon, with a log-cabin parlor, an 1880s horse-drawn hearse, a wool and mohair shearing machine and 1910s jail cells.
• Garner State Park — 9.1 mi
  The Frio River park that Uvalde County built with the Civilian Conservation Corps and named for its own vice president, where people have danced on the stone pavilion every summer since the 1940s.
• Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area — 33 mi
  A 140-foot shaft into a cavern outside Rocksprings, seen only on guided tours from a platform at the rim as some three million bats spiral out on summer evenings.

More markers nearby

• John Leakey — 0.3 mi
• Real County — 0.3 mi
• Real County — 0.3 mi
• Leakey Cemetery — 0.4 mi