The town was founded in 1874 and was named Leesburg for founder Newburn H. Guinn's daughter, Lee Guinn.[18] The town was renamed Leesville by the U.S. Postal Service and was recognized by state law in 1891.[19]
Leesville is notable for its rich, well-documented history. It is also home to a $149 million water facility and 40-mile pipeline that stores and moves to 11.6 million gallons of water toward the Greater San Antonio area.[20][21]
History
Name
Sandy Creek, Texas (present-day Leesville) in 1839
Capote, Texas (present-day Leesville) in 1856
The first settlement in Leesville began in the 1830s around Sandy Creek, said to be once landmarked by a giant granite stone. This settlement gave Leesville one of its nicknames: the Sandies. Population growth near Sandy Creek halted in the 1870s when the region's proprietor destroyed the granite landmark in retaliation to a local food theft.[22]
The region was then named Capote, from the Spanish for "cape" or "cloak", after its Capote Hills. In the late 1800s, local land developer Newburn H. Guinn attempted to change the town's name to Leesburg after his daughter Lee. This new name was soon changed to Leesville by the local post office, which noted that another Texas town had already claimed the name Leesburg.[9]
The federal government recognized Leesville, Texas in 1885 in patents "315,236" and "325,154"[26] with the former being an "Indicator for Merchandise"[27] and the latter being a "Marking Device."[19] The town was officially recognized as Leesville, Texas by state law in 1891.[11]
One of the earliest records of settlement of the Leesville area, interchangeably Leesburg at the time, involved common property of "the people of Leesburg," most-especially a single crowbar. The crowbar was reportedly shared by the community from 1863 until 1883, when it was thought to have been used in a local theft.[29]
Although limited historical records of the early Leesville population exist, in the 1880s, during the election for the Texas House of Representatives, votes cast from Leesville numbered in the thousands.[30][31]
El Capote Ranch, a Texas historical marker that still exists today, was founded in 1806 by Joseph de la Baume (1731–1834), a French army officer who came to North America with the Marquis de Lafayette and fought in the American Revolution. He later joined the Spanish Army and was compensated for his service with the title to 27,000 acres of Texas land in what is now Leesville, upon which he developed the original El Capote Ranch. The ranch's cabin from the 1830s (now preserved in Lubbock in the Museum of Texas Tech University) represents the earliest form of dwelling utilized on the Texas frontier.
Roosevelt's 1898 horse, depicted above, is claimed to have been from the El Capote Ranch
In 1880, the San Antonio Express newspaper rated the Capote Ranch as "the largest and most complete farm in Texas... if not in the south," giving examples of the diversity of livestock and crops that were raised at the scale of 75 workers over 20,000 acres. The farm's stock included 2,800 heads of cattle, 6,000 Berkshire pigs and various other types of livestock and agriculture.[33]
The ranch was acquired in 1897 by Judge Leroy Gilbert Denman (1855–1916), a justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and is currently owned by his descendants. At present day, the property's remaining estate has generated significant caselaw in Texas in ConocoPhillips Co. v. Ramirez,[34]in which the rights to the minerals beneath the ranch's soil were contested.[35]
In 1880, two generations of the Leesville families Littlefield[36] and Martin received national attention after three Littlefield family members died in a revolver gunfight between the two families.[37] The late George W. Littlefield was the grandson of one of the deceased Littlefields. In 1883, George Littlefield relocated to the state capital of Austin, Texas from South Texas.[38] His Littlefield Building on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin now houses Capital One Bank. From 1895 to 1903, Littlefield also owned the Driskill Hotel, located near the Littlefield Building. He installed the first electric lighting system in the hotel, which became a gathering place for Texas politicians during much of the 20th century. He willed his residence, the Littlefield House, to the University of Texas.[39][40]
James W. Peebles, Leesville District Rep.; 21st-22nd Texas Legislature
Peebles' election
In 1889, over a thousand people of the Leesville general area elected the Representative James William Peebles for the local legislative seat without Peebles' direct involvement in the campaign. Peebles had lived in Leesville since 1869, but he had never exhibited any "political aspirations." Despite having no previous political experience, Peebles won the legislative seat by a margin of a thousand votes. In 1891, he was elected to a second term in the same Leesville district.[30][31]
1900s
A 1904 voting press-record from The Houston Post indicated that at least 708 ballots were cast in Leesville during a primary election.[41] Five years later, in 1909, over a dozen cases of smallpox were reported around Leesville, with African Americans disproportionately affected.[42]
In March 1912, the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway was built 2.5 miles east of Leesville.[44] During the same time period, engineers of the Quanah, Seymour, Dublin and Rockport Railroad completed a preliminary survey for the construction of another railroad through Leesville itself.[45]
In 1916, an electric railway contract was awarded to J. H. Berryman & Co., served by its president Steve Holmes from Leesville. The 190-mile line was proposed to reach San Antonio from Houston, stopping at Richmond, Garwood, Gonzales, Holmes' home of Leesville, Willow Springs and New Berlin.[46] The expected material cost was written as "530,000 cross-ties," "16,000,000 feet of lumber" and "32,000 poles." This was considered a notable prospective order for the lumber industry at the time, but the proposal was never further developed.[47]
Leesville's former sign, now stolen
2000s
In late 2020, a porcelain sign weighing approximately 150 pounds was stolen from Leesville's Quien Sabe Ranch. It landmarked the northern area of Leesville at County Road 102 and SH 80. A $1000 reward was circulated "for information about the theft."[48]
Economy
As of 2000, Leesville was home to seven businesses[49] that earned an estimated $1.3 million total in 2016.[50] From 1999 to 2018, the aggregate household income for the city ranged from $7.8-$10.6 million annually.[51][52] All commercial and residential properties in Leesville paid a combined estimate of $192,500 in property taxes in 2016.[53]
A notable component of the Leesville economy is the town's large water facility and pipeline. Owned by the Schertz-Seguin Local Government Corporation (SSLGC), the 40-mile pipeline transports water from the local Carrizo Aquifer to the greater San Antonio area.
The construction of the water facility and pipeline was arranged in 2012 at a reported cost of $149-million. In 2014, this facility was permitted to pump 19,363 acre-feet of water per year, with a then-present utilization of 10,000 acre-feet. Over 60,000 households can be sustained through this water supply.[20] The location of the SSLGC water facility in Leesville, between Gonzales and Guadalupe Counties, was a strategic choice to mitigate cost and provide long-term reliability of the water source for nearby cities. As of 2016, the system can store up to 11.6 million gallons of water.[21]
Fitch Ratings remarked on this water company's inability to directly assign liabilities to either the City of Schertz or Seguin. It has also remarked that COVID-19 has not affected the demand of water from the facility. From 2016 to 2020, the facility made over $9.2 million in revenue each year. In addition to serving the greater San Antonio area, the water facility and pipeline serve additional cities such as Selma and Universal City.[55]
Geography
Leesville is located at the southeastern Guadalupe County line in west Gonzales County, approximately 19 miles south of U.S. 183 North in Luling (Greater Austin) and 26 miles west of U.S. 183 South in Gonzales.[56] The historical city center of Leesville is located alongside Farm to Market Road 1682, where the city's original church and cemetery reside; both of which currently serve as locations for local events.[57][58][59]
In 1846, geologist Dr. Ferdinand von Roemer further described the area as composed of "fertile valleys" and "low hills... of gravel sand" with "farms every few miles."[61]
In 1851, William Bollaert of the Royal Geographical Society became lost in the Leesville area, which he described as the "Big Hill prairies." He found the soil to be "rich looking" and "black." He further reported encountering herds of mustangs, wolves, and forests of pecan trees. Near Guadalupe River, Bollaert found the land "fit for all agricultural purposes, although the surface soil is sandy," with chiltepin peppers "most abundant." The main Capote Hill was described as a "conspicuous object...isolated in the prairie" Within the hill, he found disintegrated limestone, gypsum, oyster and other shells comprising a great variety of former marine life.[62]
The Leesville-Belmont area has an annual average of 33.1 inches and 35.8 days of rainfall. The average day consists of 12.6 hours of light. Temperatures are high with very mild winters, with the climate generally described as humid subtropical.[64][65]
Flooding
During Tropical Depression Eight of 1981, several dwellings in and around Leesville suffered water damage after the O'Neill Creek reached its highest level since at least 1936. Leesville experienced some part of the county's $5 million estimated damages caused by the storm.[66]
Nearby ghost towns
The following former towns once existed along the border of Leesville:
As of 2018, Leesville was rated as having 249 residential structures.[75] An estimated majority of homes (40.5%) in the area were built from 1980 to 1999.[76] The estimated median year Leesville homes were moved into was 1996.[77] No residential structures have been approved and built in Leesville since 2014, as recorded by the census in 2017.[78]
The local median cost of housing, as of 2018, ranged from $546 to $633 per month;[79][80] with the households of the city paying an aggregate $23,500 in annual property taxes.[81] In estimation, of local workers 16 years and over who do not work at home, 16% commute within five minutes to reach their place of work, 28% commute 15 to 24 minutes, and 56% commute half an hour or more.[82]
From 2000 to 2018, all occupied residential real estate in Leesville was valued from $13.9 to 19.6-million,[83][84] leading to a residential value density of more than $400 per acre. As of 2020, vacant and undeveloped Leesville land sold at $4,649 per acre.[85][unreliable source?]
Michael Erskine, a founding settler of the Leesville area, described the values of its people summarily in 1845: "I move along here as well as I can—work hard, live poor and am respected by the poor chaps. There are but few rich people in this part of the country. And no claims to be superior to another on account of his wealth."[93]
Folklore
In folklore, locals claim to see a ghost of a little girl in a blue dress playing in the Leesville Cemetery. She is reportedly seen only at a significant distance.[94]
Notable people
Frank E. Corley (1895-1924)—African-AmericanLAPD officer born in Leesville who was shot and killed while on duty
^"Bridges". Engineering News and American Railway Journal. 41: 72. 1899. Retrieved May 14, 2020. ...Bids are asked...for constructing two iron bridges, one over Sandies Creek...
^"GNIS Detail - Leesville". U.S. Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 16, 2020. Variant Name...Capote...Leesburg...
^"Lubbock Morning Avalanche, 1926". February 17, 1926. Retrieved September 19, 2018. ...State of Texas, being a part of the E. W. Cullen League, in the town of Leesville...
^ abMontgomery, Murray (August 7, 2005). "Times Past". The Gonzales Inquirer. Sometime between 1868 and 1887, Mr. Newburn H. Guinn divided land on the west bank of the creek into town lots and sold them to various businesses. In about 1870, Guinn decided to name the town Leesburg, after his daughter, Lee. When the town applied for a post office however, they had to do so under the original name of Capote -- there was already a Leesburg in Texas at the time. The post office opened in 1873. Finally, in 1874, the town became known as Leesville
^ abBrown, Sampson Harvey (August 25, 1885). "Marking Device Patent". The Portal to Texas History. Washington, D.C.: United States Patent Office. Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via University of North Texas. Patent for a new and improved merchandise tag. This design consists of a stick "provided with means for holding it fixed in its position after it has been inserted and having hinged to its outer end the tag having a strip of suitable material secured around its edges, as shown, so as to form on both sides of the tag the flanges adapted to receive the removable, reversible, and interchangeable cards
^Rogers, Linda (September 30, 1981). "Dewville no 'ghost town'; 139 year old church still active". The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. Vol. 93, no. 23. p. 2 – via Newspaper Archive. early settlers used to gather by Sandies Creek around a huge granite stone. From the 1830s until 1870, it was a spot for revivals, picnics and general get-togethers...The landowner of the property adjacent to this granite gathering became quite annoyed...They would raid his fields for watermelon, corn and other food. So, in 1870, he blew up the piece of granite.
^Brown, Sampson Harvey (April 7, 1885). "Patent for Indicator of Merchandise". The Portal to Texas History. United States Patent Office. Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via University of North Texas. Patent for a new and improved advertising sign. This design "relates to apparatus or devices for marking or indicating upon the outside of boxes or drawers the names and prices of the merchandise or other articles contained therein; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of a device of the above-mentioned class"
^Hand, Barbara (December 29, 2011). "Nixon eatery is one of the county's hidden treasures". The Gonzales Cannon. Vol. 3, no. 14. p. 7 – via Scribd. ...Leesville...marker...for the 1835 attack at Sandies Water Hole, where a party of 13 French and Mexican traders was ambushed by Comanches while going from Natchitoches, LA. to Mexico. All died...
^ ab"James Wiley Peebles". Legislative Reference Library of Texas. State of Texas. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
^McCormick, George. ROBERT CARR v. THE STATE. Texas Court of Appeals. p. 635. Retrieved September 13, 2021. QUALIFICATION OF A WITNESS. — EXECUTIVE PARDON, which is a remission of guilt, is either full, partial or conditional . It is full when it freely and unconditionally absolves the party from all the legal consequences of his crime and conviction , direct and collateral . It is partial when it remits only a portion of the punishment, or absolves from only a portion of the legal con sequences of the crime. It is conditional when it does not become operative until the grantee has performed some specified act, or when it becomes void upon the occurrence of some specified event. No other than a full pardon can operate to restore to a felony convict the competency of a witness in the courts of this State. The pardon of the impugned witness in this case was qualified by the condition subsequent that it was subject to revocation by the Governor whenever it shall be determined by the said Governor that the convict has violated any of the criminal laws of this State. Held, by the majority of the court, that such conditional pardon did not restore to the witness the competency to testify, and in permitting him to be introduced as a witness, the trial court erred. But see the opinion of Hurt, Judge, maintaining the converse of the doctrine to the extent that the effect of a pardon with a condition subsequent is the same as that of a full pardon until the same is vitiated by the happening of the condition.
^Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice (2017). "ConocoPhillips Co. v. Ramirez". Casetext. Court of Appeals of Texas, San Antonio. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
^MARIALYN BARNARD, JUSTICE (2011). "Estate of Denman". Casetexas. Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourth District, San Antonio. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
^Johnson, Frank W. (1916). A History of Texans and Texas. Vol. 4. Chicago: The American Historical Society. pp. 1670–1672. in "William Wallace Littlefield". Archived from the original on September 2, 2018. WILLIAM W. LITTLEFIELD has for practically half a century been actively identified with the farming and stock-raising interests of Gonzales County, his home being at Leesville, and he has also for a number of years been a prominent political figure in that section of the state. The Littlefield family has been one of prominence in Texas and elsewhere for a number of generations. The name is of Scotch origin, and Philip Littlefield, grandfather of the Leesville resident, was one of three brothers who left the old country and came to the United States about 1801...
^"A Texas Tragedy". Albion New Era. Vol. 8, no. 52. September 23, 1880. p. 1 – via Newspaper Archive. ...A triple tragedy lately took place at Leesville, Texas. Three leading citizens and brothers, Houston, William and Phipps Littlefield, while working on a road, met Orvie, James, and Edward Martin. Houston Littlefield had had a previous difficulty with the party, and separated without settling it. Meeting again, they renewed the quarrel. Houston Littlefield drew his pistol on Orvie Martin, who was unarmed. James Martin, seeing his brother in danger, ran up and struck Houston Littlefield with a hoe, felling him to the ground. At that Phipps Littlefield drew his revolver and shot James Martin, the ball hitting him on the head. By this time all hands had drawn revolvers, and a general fire began. Ed. Martin was wounded in the hand, but not before he had shot and instantly killed Houston and William Littlefield. The two Littlefields lay dead, while their brother, mortally wounded-cast his dying gaze upon their ghastly bodies, reddened with gore. The Martins then left...Phipps Littlefield died a few hours after the fight. It is thought the Littlefield family connections will take up the fight and wreak vengeance on the Martins.
^Johnson, Frank (1916). A History of Texas and Texans. Chicago: American Historical Society. pp. Vol. IV, 1670–1672.
^Gracy, David B. (1971). George Washington Littlefield: A Biography in Business. Texas Tech University.
^"Gonzales County". Houston Daily Post. July 10, 1904 – via The Portal to Texas History. ...Leesville, Texas, July 9 (1904)...In the primary election, the following vote was cast at this box: Schuter 2, Davidson 61, Simmons 19, Blanchette 31, Stephens 64, Robbins 67, Strong 27, Lefevre 643, Cousins 65...(Lefvre-Cousins Superintendent Vote: 708 ballots
^"Smallpox in Gonzales County". The Houston Post. Vol. 24 (published January 24, 1909). January 22, 1909. p. 12 – via The portal to Texas History. LEESVILLE, Texas, January 22 (1909)...Three miles north of this place a dozen or more cases of smallpox exist. It has prevailed almost continuously in some part of this county for many months and only one case (that in the town of Gonzales) has been quarantined. If quarantine is not immediately established there soon may be a hundred cases, as it is among (African-Americans) and they are traveling night and day, some with it broken out on them.
^"Farmers' Union at Leesville". Farmers' Union at Leesville. (Houston Post Special.) LEESVILLE Texas. July 18 (1906) J. C. Albritton at 3 p.m. yesterday addressed a large audience at this place upon the aims and purposes of the Farmers' Union after which a number of the candidates for county offices addressed the assembly. Mr. Hicks of San-Antonio is billed to address the people at this place on the 19th instant in behalf of T. M. Campbell for governor who has a number of supporters but Colquitt Is largely In the majority with none so far heard of for Brooks and but one for Bell. This section received a heavy rain last night which will be very detrimental to cotton causing It to shed many of its forms and will cause a rapid Increase of boll weevils from which many farmers fear another 1903 failure when this section averaged about a bale to thirty acres.
^"Texas Industrial Notes". The Houston Post. Vol. 27. March 11, 1912. p. 14 – via The Portal to Texas History. HOUSTON DAILY POST...LEESVILLE, Texas...March 10 The Quanah and Gulf railroad Is now being surveyed two and one-half miles east of this place. The citizens are anxious to induce the road to come by Leesville and a nice bonus will be offered when building begins.
^Engineering and Contracting (No. 17, Volume 37 ed.). University of Michigan: Myron C. Clark Publishing Company. 1912. p. 37. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
^Mason Camp, Walter (1916). Railway Review (No. 1, Volume 59 ed.). New York Public Library: W.A. Smith. p. 678. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
^The Lumber Trade Journal (Volume 70 No. 11 ed.). Pennsylvania State University. 1916. p. 46. Retrieved April 29, 2020.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Leesville, Texas". Texas Escapes Online Magazine. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
^"'Come and Grind It' back for a fourth year". The Gonzalez Inquirer. February 27, 2020. The annual Come and Grind It gravel road cycling event is back in Leesville for the fourth year in a row. The ever-growing race, starting with 125 participants in 2017 which ballooned to 225 racers (in 2019)...at 6077 County Road 155 Leesville, Texas...The race includes a 22, 33 and 66-mile option.
^"Leesville celebrates 80th homecoming". May 5, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2018. Used to be, a couple of thousand people lived in the area. There were two barbershops, two grocery stores, a cotton gin and a drug store...the flood of 1936 caused hardships that changed the dynamics of Leesville's development in forcing people to move elsewhere.
^"Leesville lets loose this weekend". The Gonzalez Inquirer. October 7, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2018. ...at the Methodist Church grounds, is a fundraiser for the Leesville Cemetery
^Byrd Lockhart's Field Notes of 6 Leagues of Capote tract. Seguin, Texas: Personal Papers of Mrs. Charles E. Baer. June 14, 1830.
^Roemer, Dr. Ferdinand (1846). Texas: Described Through Personal Observations (Republished). San Antonio, 1935. pp. 86–90.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link)
^Bollaert FRGS, William (1851). "Observations on the Geography of Texas". The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. 20. University of California: 119. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
^Olmsted, Frederick (1852). A Journey Through Texas (Republished). New York, 1969. pp. 231–237.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Dunn, Roy Sylvan (1976). "Handbook of Texas: Albuquerque, TX". Texas State Historical Association. Albuquerque was on the Clear Fork of Sandies Creek two miles south of the junction of Gonzales, Wilson, and Guadalupe counties in Gonzales County. The site was believed to be in Wilson County until a 1914 survey showed it inside the Gonzales county line...
^"James Wiley Peebles". Legislative Reference Library of Texas. State of Texas. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
^Bond, Mary C. (September 23, 1998). "'Sandies Home Guard' of 1861 muster printed". The Seguin-Gazette Enterprise. Vol. 110, no. 2. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. A list of officers and members composing of the Voluntary Cavalry Company known as the "Sandies Home Guard" was organized on June 25, 1861 in Gonzales County. This company consisted of 70 men, including officers. Most of the men agreed to equip themselves with a good reliable gun, either a rifle or a shot gun, a six shooter and a good horse fit for service. Most of the company had rifles, some shot guns and some of them had six shooters. The recruits who did not have arms assured Erskine that they would be procured on reasonable terms as soon as possible. The names of those appearing on this muster are listed as follows. Officers: Captain Michael Erskine, First Lieutenant W. H. Burris, Second Lieutenant Larkin N. West, Third Lieutenant N. W. Guinn...
^Rogers, Linda (September 30, 1981). "Dewville no 'ghost town'; 139 year old church still active". The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. Vol. 93, no. 23. p. 2 – via Newspaper Archive. At Sandies...In 1861 a volunteer cavalry company was formed. Called the Home Guard it was organized by Capt. Michael Erskine and was made up of 70 men.
^"249". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
^"School District Locator". The State of Texas. Texas Education Agency. August 23, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
^"Election Day is Saturday". The Gonzales Inquirer. May 3, 2018. ...the Nixon-Smiley CISD school board election...The poll places include...Leesville Methodist Church, FM 1682, Leesville (Precincts: 5, 13)...
^McCowan, Erik (September 13, 2018). "Staying "Happy" in Leesville". The Gonzales Inquirer. Quilters keep patching a tradition since 1998...a group known as the Happy Quilters were hard at work on the premier attraction for the auction — a handmade quilt that brings in big bucks for the annual fundraiser...All agreed that the quilt is the big auction item that everyone looks forward to at the fair, with the highest bid fetching $2,000 one year, but the average is $1,000 or so. The money raised from the quilt and the fair goes to two scholarships for Nixon-Smiley students, upkeep of the old Methodist Church building — which is now used as a community center for the Leesville Cemetery Association — and upkeep of the cemetery next door...
^
Ford, Rob (October 30, 2012). "Reliving tales of the 'Ghost of Gonzales'". The Gonzales Inquirer. The Leesville Cemetery Ghost...Many people have reported seeing a little girl in the Leesville cemetery, and they always see her from a distance. They also say the same thing – that she wears a blue dress and is playing in the graveyard like a living child would do in a schoolyard. But the second someone starts to walk toward her, she disappears...
_in_1839.jpg)
_in_1856.jpg)
