DE LEON HANDBOOK
Jan 1---1935 R.L. Scott becomes Post Master
1920 De Leon becomes Home Rule City
1929 E.E. Dabney repurchases hardware store
1961 Zollie Steakley appointed to Texas Supreme Court
Jan 2---1920 First Home Rule council and mayor take office
1946 Legendary TCU football coach Dutch Meyer speaks to Bearcats at Sportsmen’s Banquet
Jan 3---1983 James Morgan sworn in as 220th District Judge
Jan 4---1935 Robinson Springs High School students move to De Leon
Jan 5---1919 Weaver Drug and three adjoining buildings burn
1931 R.D. Bell and father open store
1932 The U.S. House of Representatives is opened with a gavel made by Sam and Rich Cowan of Comyn
of Bois D’ Arc lumber from the railroad bridge on the Leon.
Jan 6---1950 York Hotel becomes the Anthony
1932 De Leon chapter of Future Farmers of America organized
Jan 7---1927 Lowe and Carter sell wholesale grocery to Abilene’s Radford Grocery
1957 Home mail delivery begins upon order of President Eisenhower
Jan 8---1923 Avant Variety Store files bankruptcy and closes.
1932 Ford dealership moves to Swagerty building
1929 Southwestern Bell rents May Streety Whaley home (Wofford’s Use Cars) for $35 per month as new
location of switchboard
Jan 9---1932 Central Texas produce burns killing 5,000 chickens.
1937 De Leon defeats Oliver Springs 18-9 in basketball
Jan 10--1940 Comyn girls defeat De Leon 11-10 and a De Leon boy’s all star team defeats the Ozark Hill Billies 19-18
in the first basketball games played in City Hall
1958 Sloan’s Grocery holds grand opening of new supermarket on Navarro
Jan 11--1929 Murry Nichols announced as De Leon’s first All State Football player.
1986 De Leon switches to digital dial telephones
Jan 12--1905 Farmers and Merchants National Bank chartered
1937 Ghent Sanderford elected Chairman of State Board of Education
1965 Ben Barnes elected youngest Speaker of Texas House of Representatives
1987 First State Bank of Gustine opens De Leon branch
Jan 13--1910 MKT leases the Texas Central Railway
Jan 14--1927 Humble Oil begins construction of a 315 mile pipeline from Borger to Comyn
Jan 15--1957 Zollie Steakley appointed Texas Secretay of State
1948 Holdridges Clover Farm Store opens at Texas and Sipe Springs Highway
1949 Depot Woodwork Co. burns--located immediately behind today’s Comanche Co. Tractor
1956 Gatlin Trio consisting of Larry, Stevy and Rudy appear at Round Grove Church
Jan 16--1924 Y.L. Dabney, B.W. Ayers, and W.L. Bagwell donate land for new city tourist park
1958 L.E. “Cotton” Shifflett takes over Gulf Oil distributorship
Jan 17--1924 Frank Carter’s new home burns (northwest corner Pittman and Labadie)
1927 W.H. Smith buys out Bob Steakley becoming sole owner of Smiths
1968 De Leon placed on Texas Historic Forts Trail
1891 Order of Eastern Star receives first charter
Jan 18---1930 Temperature drops to -8 degrees at 3 a.m. nears 1894 record of -14 degrees
1940 Darlene Nabors joins Ozark Hill Billies pro basketball team, first of two De Leonians on the team
1956 Major snow storm largest since 1948
Jan 19
Jan 20---1938 Jack Haynes ends a quarter century as De Leon blacksmith
1950 “Old Tater”, R.E. Wilson’s 36 year old mule dies
Jan 21---1969 Ben Barnes Inaugurated Lt. Governor of Texas
Jan 22---1931 The F&M Bank and Security State Bank merge during the Depression
1938 Lighting strikes Humble tank farm, tank burns for hours
Jan 23---1932 Comyn Baptist votes to convert from gas to electric lights
Jan 24---1932 Armour Meat Packing Company announces closing of its De Leon plant.
1924 Lee Bills and W.R. Dyson seize still, arrest two northwest of town
Jan 25---1937 Western Union moves offices from depot to Weaver Drug
1988 Everybody’s Bearcat, Todd Whitehead returns to classes
Jan 26---1940 Sweepstakes winning Bearcat Band receives invitation to appear at New York Worlds Fair
Jan 27---1898 Second petition presented to county commissioners for De Leon incorporation election
1955 Murry Cox RFD radio show broadcast from high school
1955 “Broken Lance” becomes the first CinemaScope movie shown at Leon Theater
Jan 28---1923 Comyn announces it has the largest per capita school fund of any district in USA at $100.45 per student.
1938 De Leon votes 214-131 against building the present county court house while it carries county-wide
1,026 to 647. Effort begins in southern part of county to move county seat to De Leon.
Jan 29---1940 Dr. A.M. Reynolds opens an office in Guinns Drug
1936 2 inch snow fall in De Leon
Jan 30---1929 Sarah Parkman sells City Cafe to Buel Terry and Sid Farrow
Jan 31---1990 Kevin Witt awarded Eagle Scout badge
1949 Desdemona and Jakehamon schools consolidate
Feb 1----1924 Two engines pulling MKT passenger train 36 derail, crash near Leon River bridge
1914 R.L. Scott buys Free Press
1929 Lee Kemp and J.C. Brinson buy Walker’s Chrysler Plymouth dealership
Feb 2-----1914 Citizens in northeastern corner of county organize the Hog Creek Oil Company at the old Hog Creek
School
1929 Church of Christ breaks ground on new building at Reynosa and Houston
1955 Dozens of De Leonians take buses to Fort Worth Stock Show where Bearcat Band entertains
Feb 3-----1940 Jimmy Schmidt makes All State Band
1919 Payne gas well comes in producing about 40 million cubic feet per day
1955 Lenward Caraway wins Reserve Grand Champion Steer of Junior Division at Fort Worth Stock Show
Feb 4-----1902 New school building accepted from builders
1929 Demolition of Rex Oil refinery begins (west of cemetery)
Feb 5-----1944 Shorty Mahan signs contract for Chevrolet Dealership
Feb 6-----1928 John Weaver buys Lloyd Hampton’s Insurance Co.
Feb 7-----1933 Temperature drops to -6 degrees
Feb 8-----1928 Small pox quarantine lifted after four cases
1938 Federal agents raid operating 55 gallon still on Rush Creek southwest of Downing
Feb 9-----1929 two inches of sleet and high temperature of 7 degrees
Feb 10----1949 Dr. I Q appears at city hall, later a TV show and kids game
1938 One of two cedar trees that stood for more than half a century at city halls and Dabney home removed
1952 A&M Cafe burns
Feb 11----1996 De Leon VFD responds to three fires in one day
February 12
February 13
February 14
Feb 15----1937 Major dust bowl storm sweeps over De Leon for two days
1927 De Leon’s town orchestra gives first concert at York’s Cafe
1958 De Leon girls win District Basketball championship
February 16
Feb 17----1936 Joe Hill Jr., youngest man to accompany Admiral Byrd to the South Pole visits De Leon
Feb 18----1915 City hires an Assistant City Secretary for $5 per month
February 19
Feb 20----1900 De Leon votes to assume control of its school from the county
Feb 21----1985 Texas Ranger John Dendy honored for heroism by the Texas legislature and Gov. Mark White
1983 Old Gulf Station across from First Baptist initially called Grizelle and Trent Service Station demolished
Feb 22----1919 Council votes to extend Texas Ave to Bivar Street thereby creating the “S” curve north of the tracks
Feb 23----1940 De Leon’s last surviving veteran of the Civil War, Union soldier G.E. Murphrey dies age 93
Feb 24----1928 A.C. Schuman, formerly of Desdemona purchases the Texas & Pacific Oil distributorship
1928 A Poland China sow belonging to J.C. Greenwaldt gives birth to a litter of 10 pigs only 2 days after
having a litter of 8
Feb 25
Feb 26----1955 Holdridge Grocery robbed of $472 by James T. Braswell who later robs the Blanket bank.
1952 Citizens petition council for bond election to build hospital
Feb 27
Feb 28
Feb 29
Mar 1-----1931 W.E. and J.P. Howell open the Men’s Store.
1928 Hollie Hafford purchases City Market
Mar 2-----1836 Texas Independence Day
1933 FDR announces he will nominate Silliman Evans as 4th Asst. Post Master General
Mar 3-----1910 Construction begins on railroad branch to Cross Plains
1939 First edition of the Del High Camera is published
1924 Oil boom business Buell Lumber closes
Mar 4-----1885 De Leon’s Dr. J.A. Davis becomes the first De Leonian to attend the inauguration of a President,
Grover Cleveland.
1929 Otis Ham and Fred Nabors open De Leon’s Whippet auto dealership
1929 Emmett Lee Howard and the Simmons University Band attend the inauguration of
President Herbert Hoover.
Mar 5-----1976 Tommy and Daniel Burleson engineer US bicentennial Freedom Train
1939 Christian Church addition dedicated
Mar 6-----1836 Day the Alamo fell
1954 New Sinclair Station opens south of City hall
Mar 7-----1924 Allen Bibby announces intention to open variety store in Avant building
Mar 8-----1952 Herman Johnson sets state record with 154’11” toss in discus and record 54’ toss in shot putt at
Southwestern Recreation Track meet at Fort Worth Mar 7-8
Mar 9-----1951 Sloan Grocery reopens downtown
1952 Sharp and Nabors Funeral Home opens
Mar 10----1949 Dr. Wihelm leaves De Leon for position at Mayo Clinic
Mar 11----1918
1940 Fire department reorganized after long hiatus
1950 Army Corps of Engineers recommends building Proctor Dam
Mar 12----1920 Railroad reaches Jakehamon
1932 The long awaited movie Frankenstine is the late night feature at the Liberty
Mar 13----1927 First Baptist dedicates new building
1938 A fire on the MKT Engine 769 parked in the De Leon yard destroys cab
1940 Edmondson’s robbed of silk hose for fourth time. Robber caught when broom handle is placed in his
back and told it is a gun. Makes Associated Press nationwide wire service.
1996 De Leon Wolverines first game in De leon
Mar 14-----1954 Dedication of United Pentecostal Church
1939 City offices move to present city hall
Mar 15-----1944 Branch line of railroad abandoned.
1933 F&M bank reopens in first group of country banks after FDR’s mandatory holiday, sets record for one
day deposits
Mar 16------1996 Courtney Golden throws a no-hitter against Gorman to win Bearcat Baseball Tourney
Mar 17------1937 Caraways steer Golden Oak Albert declared Grand Champion of Ft. Worth Stock Show having
already been named Grand Champion in Denver.
Mar 18-----1985 Texas State Treasurer and future Governor Ann Richards speaks at RC&D banquet
Mar 19-----1937 The Tate-Lax Museum of Curios including skeletons, tusks, etc displayed inside an 8 foot Douglas fir
is displayed at Harmon Drug.
Mar 20-----1935 Paving of highway from Comanche to De Leon completed as crews finish in in front of Travelers Hotel
Mar 21-----1913 City prohibits annoying, speaking disrespectfully to, or insulting other in public upon fine of $50
Mar 22-----1940 City of De Leon files for bankruptcy
1952 Sharp and Nabors Funeral Home holds grand opening
Mar 23-----1895 Dabney Saddlery and Harness shop opens
1929 Higginbothams holds grand reopening of its newly expanded furniture store
Mar 24-----1954 Late 1.5 inch snow storm shuts down town.
Mar 25-----1917 Methodist hold last service in 1895 church
1949 Desdemona struck by tornado
Mar 26------1917 Demolition of 1895 Methodist Church begins
1920 Post Office opens in Jakehamon
Mar 27------1935 City buys new Ford V-8 fire truck
Mar 28------1924 De Leon host county UIL meet for first time
Mar 29------1924 Ronald Myers high point man in county Track and Field meet
1920 De Leon’s present depot opens
Mar 30------1922 Current chapter of Eastern Star chartered
Mar 31------1928 Fire damages City Barber Shop and four other business on east side of Texas Ave opposite Weavers
1949 Seals Brothers Circus in town at what is now the south section of the cemetery
Apr 1--------1939 Bell Grocery opens in old Harmon Drug building
Apr 4--------1928 A tornado destroys one house and damages two others southwest of Rucker.
Apr 9--------1932 Proctor State bank is robbed.
Apr 10-------1937De Leon Band takes first place in 10th Annual West Texas Band Festival in Abilene.
Apr 11-------1921 Shakespeare Club organized
Apr 12-------1967 Publication of the De Leon Palaver begins
Apr 14-------1929 Hail storm kills hundreds of sea gulls north of De Leon near Koonce farm
Apr 15-------1939 Present City Hall is completed and ready for occupancy
Apr 16-------1931 First annual livestock show held
Apr 17------ 1908 Massive flooding hits Central Texas cuts rail transportation
1933 De Leon High Poultry Judging team wins second State Championship
1936 Jefferson Day Banquet held in Travelers Hotel
Apr 18-------1975 Dallas Cowboy Charlie Waters speaks at athletic banquet
Apr 19-------1926 De Leon High Poultry Judging team wins first State Championship
Apr 20-------1928 Phantom organ installed at Liberty Theater
Apr 21-------1836 Houston defeats Santa Anna at San Jacinto
1938 18’ tall petrified tree found on farm of Jesse Stone and brought to town
Apr 22-------1929 Blake and Milton Heath buy the York Cafe
1925 Demolition of the old water tank that stood in the middle of main street commenced at noon
1940 Tate Counts becomes Post Master
1932 Virgil Stamps Quartet performs at old city hall
Apr 23-------1937 J.P. Ruff, the man who named Duster dies
Apr 26-------1932 Doodlebugs begin operating on MKT
Apr 28-------1928 De Leon Whippet Company auto dealership opens
1958 Second Downing tornado
Apr 29-------1939 Skating rink opens in city hall
Apr 30-------1928 Smith Heath Post of the American Legion formally organized.
May 1-------1932 O.M. Terrill store moves to present De Leon Auto building
1932 W.J. Baldwin takes over Free Press from R.L. Scott who had published since 1918 after a break for
World War I
May 2-------1955 William S. White wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Taft Story
1921 Mayor Kenyon resigns via telegram from Canada
May 3------1929 A sand storm that lasted more than 20 hours hits area. Lester Hotel loses roof. H.F. Short orchard
damaged loses peach and plum crop.
1952 Herman Johnson betters state record in shot putt with a 53’ 9” toss at district meet
1938 R.G. Fincher purchases Bob Carter’s store, becomes Fincher Feed
May 4------1943 FDR appoints William Wrather as Director of US Geological Survey (discoverer of Desdemona oil field)
1991 Nikki Robinett and Martin Rameriz place first and second in the UIL State spelling competition
1940 Rev. and Mrs. Sherrod Stover leave for 3 year missionary work 1,200 miles up Amazon in Brazil
May 5------1967 Bodie Weaver wins State 330 Intermediate Hurdles setting record at 38.6 seconds
1877 First Baptist Church organized as Liberty Baptist 4 miles west of present town
1924 Comyn voters approve $30,000 bond to construct new school
May 6------1930 Steakley elected Mayor and Stovall to Council in runoff after both seats end in tie in April 1 election
1927 De Leon sells old water tank that stood at Reynosa and Texas to City of Venus for $550
May 7------1965 Jackie Davis wins State 100 Yard Dash in 9.9 seconds
1917 Cornerstone of Methodist Church laid
1941 Garden Club organized
1938 Jada Davis elected editor of Tarleton’s J-Tac
May 8------1953 Herman Johnson set the second of three State Records at the UIL State Track meet throwing the
discus 152’9.5”
May 9-----1953 Herman Johnson set new shot putt record in the prelims and then betters it in the finals with a 57’5.5”
throw.
1952 Herman johnson sets new record in shot putt at 52’9” and comes in second in the discus at State
Track Meet
May 10----1980 John Ledbetter wins State Class A 800 meter run 1:56.1
1929 Holdridges opens downtown store at Texas and Reynosa in Ayers building
May 11----1953 First day of operation at De Leon Municipal Hospital
1937 Band marches in West Texas Chamber of Commerce Convention Parade in Abilene.
May 12----1984 Trent Sharp sets AA State Record of 1:54.3 in 880 meter run
1939 City hall dedicated
May 13----1919 City council votes to hire James Construction Co. to build city’s first sewer system and improve water
works
1949 Lions Club organized
May 14----1938 Gail Smith sets new Southwest Conference 880 yard dash record at 1:55.0 and also wins 440 and mile
for T.C.U.
1949 Bearcat Band awarded 1 rating in Glen Rose Parade
May 15----1976 Toby Hare betters Johnson’s discus throw with a throw of 154’10” but comes in second at state meet.
May 16----1952 Present De Leon High School dedicated
1949 Brazos River Conservation & Reclamation District approves construction of Proctor Dam
1975 Dallas Cowboy Dan Reeves speaks at athletic banquet.
May 17----1930 A wind and hail storm knocks auditorium off its foundation at Beattie School.
1936 De Leon team plays first game in New Deal Baseball league
1954 School bus thief chased from near intersection of Morton Chapel road through town to water tank
where he is caught
May 18----1953 Randall Wayne Hardin is the first baby born in De Leon Hospital
May 19----1925 Demolition of the old water tank that stood on main street was completed.
May 20----1913 Boiler for the Goss Oil well passes through De Leon in route to Sipe springs
May 21----1966 500th baby born at De leon hospital, Jimmy Carl Cagle
1933 Dr. Rupert N. Richardson, noted Texas historian addresses graduates
May 22----1938 First Downing tornado
May 23----1932 120 MKT railroad employees hold convention at old city hall
1952 Ralph Pittman awarded Doctor of Jurisprudence by Baylor University
1952 Two persons killed after a 21 inch flood near Comyn
May 24----1884 De Leon Examiner begins publication
May 25----1934 Carl L. Stewart, after helping plan Clyde Barrows funeral sings at service
May 26----1929 M/M A.C. Schuman and M/M R.N. Hall see landing of world record breaking continuous flight at
Fort Worth
May 27----1917 De Leon votes 87-37 to build high school at present site of Methodist Church
1933 De Leon children take train ride to Stamford courtesy of Free Press which is collecting on railroad
advertisements
1955 Cub Scout parade followed by circus held at old baseball field behind present Methodist Church
1954 Tornado passes over De Leon without touching down
1889 J.C. Lambert resigns, De Leon’s first Post Master
May 28----1954 Demolition of third football field behind present Methodist Church begins
1984 Confederate Air Force land in De Leon
1949 Boyce House speaks at Commencement
May 29----1982 Clint Whitehead receives a 1 rating at State for trumpet solo
May 30----1910 Council authorizes railroad spur to newly completed cotton compress
1967 Goober Special makes first run
May 31
Jun 1------1875 Houston and Texas Central Railway acquires land that becomes De Leon town site
Jun 2------1932 Femur and tusk of mastodon found west of De Leon
1975 Southern Savings opens in De Leon
Jun 3------1932 H.E. Ryan the creator of Tom and Jerry cartoons appeared at the Liberty Theater
Jun 4------1954 Richard Byron Spencer graduates from U.s. Naval Academy
1951 Walt Disney publicity division shoots photos of Fess Parker at grandparent’s farm near Downing
Jun 5------1936 Liberty Theater adds air conditioning
Jun 6------1943 Fire siren and church bells alert De Leon that D-Day has begun
1944 Squadron of B-29s fly over De Leon in tribute to Joe Edward Boswell killed during bombing of Polesti.
1996 Bearcats play in their first State Baseball Tournament
Jun 7------1965 Women’s Division of the Chamber of Commerce organized
Jun 8------1935 De Leon Fruit Growers form association
Jun 9------1949 Girl Scouts organized
Jun 10-----1877 A killing frost swept across Central Texas killing all the crops in Comanche, Hamilton and Erath
Counties
Jun 11-----1928 Severe storm damages Smiths, Plemmons Drug and other downtown stores and blows the
smokestack down at the cotton compress
1930 Harmon Drug opens in Ayers building
Jun 12-----1924 Fire destroys two residences owned by the International Nitro Corp.
1930 Third of four miniature golf courses operating at one time in De Leon opens
1932 The U.S. Navy zeppelin Akron was visible to the north of town from 7:30-8:00 p.m. as it traveled east
from Ranger to Cleburne at an estimated height of 2,000 feet.
Jun 13
Jun 14----1929 Smith-Heath Post of American Legion given rifles and machine gun from World War I by US Govt.
Jun 15----1940 Western Auto opens
Jun 16----1920 Sand storm ravages De Leon
Jun 17----1918 Drilling begins on Duke #1 oil well
Jun 18----1929 John D. Ham one of De Leon’s earliest merchants dies.
1930 Emmett Howard and his (Hardin) Simmons University’s Cowboy Band arrive at South Hampton,
England on tour
Jun 19----1955 Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett begins at Leon Theater featuring grandson of Downing’s M/M Curg
Parker
Jun 20----1948 20,000 people attend W.B. Nowlin’s first Battle of Songs featuring Eddie Arnold on Miller farm west
of present football field
Jun 21----1949 Lions Club rechartered
Jun 22----1951 Nabors Lake swimming pool opens
1957 Premier Service Station opens (location of Trent Thomas Used Cars)
1956 Black’s Convalescent Home opens in Anthony Hotel
1929 Reid Auto (Ford Dealership) burns
Jun 23
Jun 24----1933 Bunny Dryden walks high wire from Higginbothams to Counts building carrying man--
He had walked across Niagara Falls.
1932 Airdome Golf Course opens
Jun 25----1881 Texas Central announces lots will be sold at Coonerville on July 7
Jun 26----1952 Gubernatorial candidate and future U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough comes to De Leon
Jun 27---1926 Methodist hold dedication their 1917 building after note is paid in full
Jun 28----1983 Weeping Oak Drive-in heavily damaged by tornadic winds
1938 Man commits suicide by laying neck on track east of depot
Jun 29----1956 Then Senator Lyndon Johnson makes a special request for and receives funding for Proctor Dam
Jun 30----1896 J.N. Broughton and J.W. Gorman elected to school board
1929 Church of Christ holds first service in new building
Jul 1------1948 Coy and Alene Otwell purchase cleaners, retire in 1982
1935 W.C. Compton leaves De Leon for Comanche after a decade as Bearcat head coach
1881 Texas Central Railway pays $1,280 to H&TC RR for De Leon town site
Jul 2------1935 Hamiter Brothers Wild Animal Circus performs
1900 De Leon votes to build new school
Jul 3------1906 De Leon votes to build $6,000 water system
1995 New York times writer visits De Leon to gather material for article
July 4-----1955 Elvis Presley appears with Slim Willet and Blackwood Bros. at Hodges Park
1924 Whit Sides smashes his old record by eating 23 chicken gizzards at the Ebenezer/New Hope picnic
Jul 5------1995 First issue of De Leon’s Monitor published
Jul 6
Jul 7------1881 Nine lots sold in new town of De Leon
1949 First street sign installed
Jul 8------1949 All or parts of Sabano, Pounds, Buffalo, Oliver Springs, St. Joe, Trinity, Liberty, Mt. Pleasant and
Robinson Springs schools annexed by DISD
Jul 9------1871 Round Grove Baptist Church organized
Jul 10-----1935 De Leon Hotel built in 1919 burns.
Jul 12-----1927 Abandoned baby found near cornfield, later adopted by Cisco family
Jul 13-----1928 McCharen’s lake, 3 miles south of De Leon opens for swimming
Jul 14
Jul 15-----1932 M.D. Stewart repurchases Liberty theater
1929 Laura Valenta Miller and mother purchase Travelers Hotel from Streetys for $26,250.
Jul 16-----1923 Former governor James Ferguson speaks in front of Travelers Hotel
Jul 17-----1937 Paving of Austin and Houston Streets from Gonzales to Labadie begun
Jul 18-----1927 Demolition of the Campbell home/Star Hotel/Lester Hotel begins
1923 Free Press plant burns
Jul 10-----1947 De Leon Community Club reorganized
Jul 23-----1940 President Roosevelt and Vice President Garner receive 1/2 bushel of W.H. Smith peaches
Jul 24------1913 City hall accepted from builder
Jul 25-----1930 B.T. Higginbotham dies
1938 Pyeatts Cafe installs first neon sign in De Leon
Jul 26-----1886 Tom Mc Neel lynched in Downing
1955 De Leon’s Silliman Evans, publisher of the Nashville Tennessean dies in fort Worth
1931 De Leon baseball club wins Oil City tourney
Jul 27-----1925 Pate Cooper, a black man living in Morgan returned to De Leon for a visit for the first time since the
expulsion in 1886.
1950 Little Jimmie Dickens is grand marshall of Peach and Melon parade
Jul 28-----1949 Sgt. Jim Slaughter, killed over Berlin is reburied in De Leon
1958 De Leon Hospital Auxiliary formed
1977 Toby Hare plays in Texas High School Coaches North South All Star Game
Jul 29----1857 John D. Ham, longtime De Leon lumberyard operator is born as second white child in Comanche County
1929 The Valiant becomes the first talking movie shown at Liberty Theater
Jul 30----1968 Gov. John Connally and Speaker Ben Barnes are in De Leon
1940 White House places second order for Smith’s peaches
Jul 31----1935 Pipe organ from Liberty Theater is destroyed when it is accidently dropped from the second story
of Counts building.
Aug 1----1953 P&M Festival appears on television for the first time on WBAP in Fort Worth
Aug 2----1928 De Leon Whippet adds Durant autos
1939 Clara Mae Mathis becomes first P&M Queen to be crowned in new city hall
Aug 3----1982 Ray Price appears at P&M Festival.
1926 Tassie Mohon begins twice daily bus service from De Leon to Sipe springs, Pioneer, Rising Star
and Cross Plains
Aug 4----1930 W.H. Smith consolidates his grocery into building with dry goods
Aug 5----1987 Fincher Feed burns.
Aug 6----1938 Lightcrust Doughboys broadcast live from the Peach and Melon Festival
Aug 7----1963 Festival features a skydiving team for four days. One tangles in electric lines along Dublin Highway.
Aug 8----1934 Soon to be elected Governor James V. Allred speaks in De leon
1955 School Board elects Wayne Chambers to replace retiring teacher/principal Bertha Ross
1981 De Leon buries time capsule in celebration of centennial
Aug 9----1990 Shifflett Oil Warehouse burns
Aug 10--1928 Old States Picnic held at McCharens Lake south of De Leon
Aug 11--1928 De Leon Whippet/Durant sells first Durant auto in all of west texas to John W. Jones, MKT section foreman
Aug 12--1995 Jason Schayot sets new World Record for spitting watermelon seed at 75’2” at P&M Festival
1955 Judge J.H. Carpenter age 87 marries Mrs. L.D. Parks age 88.
Aug 13--1953 Jane Easley crowed P&M Queen
Aug 14--1945 Federal Govt confirms that Jap bombs fell near De Leon and Desdemona earlier that year.
1911 Citizens vote 85-0 to add a wing on school building and 82-3 to build a city hall
Aug 15--1933 Cornerstone of First Christian Church laid
1923 Perhaps the first melon slicing held
1924 Pipe organ installed in Liberty Theater
Aug 16--1935 Primitive Baptist Convention draws 2,500 to De Leon
Aug 17--1946 Al’s Variety Store Opens
Aug 18--1983 Ribbon cutting for the Lena and Doyle Taylor Surgical Suite at De Leon Hospital
Aug 19--1925 Famed Texas historian and author Boyce House visits De Leon
Aug 20--1954 U.S. Air Force displays formerly top secret Sky Sweeper weapon in De Leon
Aug 24--1931 The melon slicing is restarted
Aug 25
Aug 26--1950 De Leon votes 505-85 to issue bonds to construct present High School.
1926 Gubernatorial candidate and next governor, Dan Moody campaigns in De Leon
Aug 27--1928 W.C. Streety dies
1987 Perkins Middle School dedicated
Aug 28--1928 Moving of the remaining rooms of the Lambert (Pittman) Hotel to the south end of lot gets underway
Aug 29--1899 De Leon residents submit petition to county commissioners to incorporate city
1928 The Redden Drug building burned. It was one of De Leon earliest masonry structures built in 1890 of
De Leon brick.
Aug 30--1929 Ben Hogan places second in the first flight of De Leon-Dublin Golf Tournament
Aug 31--1949 Elmon Kirby elected Vice President and Cashier of the F&M National Bank
Sept 1--1902 School opens in new brick building at present Perkins/High School tract.
1932 Caraways shorthorns win big at Des Moine Iowa Show
1900 B.L. Nance takes over as second publisher of Free Press
1901 School opens in new building
Sep 2 --1923 Klu Klux Klan stages appearance at First Baptist Revival.
Sep 3---1937 De Leon girl’s softball team places third in state tourney in Galveston
1932 New wind mill installed at Jakehamon School
1931 City prohibits parking in the middle of Texas Avenue
Sep 4---1918 Fire extinguished at Duke well
Sep 5---1949 Garden Club begins issuing house numbers throughout city
Sep 6---1948 New building opened for Willys Overland dealership on Sipe Springs highway
Sep 7---1982 Hospital breaks ground on Taylor Surgical Wing
Sep 8---1952 Snac Shak opens
Sep 9 --1917 Methodist hold first services in new building.
1938 First Christina announces plans for new north wing
1957 County wide Civil Defense meeting held in city hall to discuss atomic attack--Duck and cover!
Sep 10--1900 Remnants of the Galveston hurricane destroys crops and damages school and residences in De Leon
1989 Prima Iglesia Bautista dedicated
Sep 11--1929 First color movie show at Liberty Theater
1948 Comanche County Tractor opens
Sep 12--1899 De Leon votes to incorporate
1917 De Leon compress is sold to Minden, La. company
1957 Construction begins on brick plant east of town
Sep 13--1883 Cyrus Campbell becomes first person buried in present De Leon cemetery
Sep 14--1931 Novits Economy Store opens in Counts building
Sep 15--1952 Construction begins on Hospital
1955 State Health Commissioner Henry Hollis says Comanche County’s uranium dirt houses are not
“worth the time.”
Sep 16--1916 Methodist vote to build new building
Sep 17
Sep 18--1917 The unincorporated De Leon Telephone Company receives 25 year franchise from city
1929 The moon had a double ring around it that night.
Sep 19--1885 County authorizes De Leon to sell old school and build new building.
Sep 20--1920 Steakley and Smith opens
Sep 21--
Sep 22--1955 City begins street paving campaign with Austin Ave
1927 Bill Steakley attends Dempsey-Tunney fight in Chicago while on business
1927 New Lester Hotel opens
Sep 23
Sep 24
Sep 25
Sep 26--1924 Methodist celebrate installation of cement floor in basement with banquet
Sep 27--1936 City emerges from receivership but it is temporary
Sep 28--1934 First football game played at south side field (behind Methodist Church)
1905 City votes to build new jail
Sep 29--1918 Charlie W. Smith killed in France World War I
1939 Screen at Liberty Theater moved to west end of building and renamed Texas Theater
1927 Work begins on paving Dublin-De Leon-Gorman highway
Sep 30--1938 Old torpedo nitro plant blown up
Oct 1----1917 Benedum interest lease land from farmers around Hog Creek setting stage for oil boom
1923 Grizzel & Trent oven new service station at Houston and Reynosa
Oct 2---1893 First day of school
1934 First football game played by Theney High School (Comyn)
1953 B.J. Pittman Jr. named All Time Outstanding Bearcat
Oct 3
Oct 4---1929 Five De Leonians bitten by rabid dogs begin receiving treatment
1937 Bolton saw mill opens on Old Gorman Highway (Bivar)
Oct 5-- 1928 Plymouths added to De Leon’s Chrysler dealership
1984 Long time teacher Mary Alice Short Crittenden crowned Coming Home queen
Oct 6---1995 First Melon Patch Trade Day held
Oct 7-- 1932 Caraways take 5 blue ribbons at State Fair
1937 Bearcat Beam replaces The Cat’s Whiskers as student newspaper
1924 De Leon Ice Company sold to Barey Bros chain
Oct 8--1912 Council votes to impose $25 fine on anyone selling fruits lunches or merchandise
on railroad property or depot without permission
1918 James B. Heath killed in Aragone Forrest Wold War I
1954 Bearcat Field dedicated
Oct 9,
Oct 10
Oct 11--1931 F& M restricts customers to a $5 per day withdrawal limit
Oct 13--1995 John Hernandez sets new Bearcat record with 101 yard return of pass interception for
touchdown against Cisco.
Oct 14--1931 Comyn claims to have installed the first lighted basketball court, Rucker said-not so fast
oct 15--1938 June Terrill represents De Leon in Queen of Queens pagent at the 50th Texas State Fair
Oct 17--1954 Jones Cafe damaged by fire.
Oct 20--1918 Depot burns.
1956 Bearcat Band participates in the University of Texas Band Day
Oct 21--1837 Bigfoot Wallace expedition moves along Armstrong Creek.
1923 MKT train derails near Sabano on Cross Plains branch
1954 Terrill family sells Ford dealership to Oscar Hammitt
Oct 22--1983 Alene Pilcher Otwell selected Coming Home Queen
Oct 23 --1938 District 17 of the American Legion holds convention at Travelers Hotel on 22 and 23rd
Oct 24--1937 De Leon Church of God organized at old city hall.
Oct 25--
Oct 26--1929 Classmate of Charles Lindburg at Brooks and Kelly Fields performs ariel exhibition in De Leon.
Oct 27--
Oct 28--1919 De Leon votes 75-20 to appoint a commission to frame a new city charter.
Oct 29--1954 Herman Johnson named to All American High School Track Team
Oct 30--1950 Demolition of Masonic Hall begins
Oct 31--1951 De Leon switches from crank to dial phones at 9 p.m.
Nov 1---1885 Texas Central RR station agent claims to have been robbed by two masked men---he actually stole the money
Nov 2---1918 De Leon Gas Company awarded franchise to construct and maintain gas system
Nov 3
Nov 4
Nov 5--1929 First Baptist begins tearing down old parsonage
Nov 6--1923 De Leon Free Fall fair beings
1947 Ralph Pittman elected President of Masons at 97th reunion
Nov 7--1957 De Leon Industrial Council formed
Nov 8--1932 George Rollins elected to the Texas House of Representatives
Nov 9--1923 Klu Klux Klan ride disrupts final night of Free Fall Fair
1934 Fire siren purchased
1982 Jim Parker elected to Texas House of Representatives
Nov 10
Nov 11---1934 Three Confederate Veterans ride in Armistice Day parade
Nov 12---1955 Robert Kay TV moves shop from near his home to new downtown store
Nov 13 --1912 City prohibits wagon yards, stock and livery stables within city limits
Nov 14
Nov 15--1989 Da-Nite Grocery burns
1952 Remodeled Leon Theater opens
1931 C.M. Caraway Jr. is on winning Texas A&M National Stock Judging team
Nov 16--1928 De Leon-Dublin football game broadcast over KFLP radio.
Nov 17 1921 First State bank fails
1986 Annett Priddy named National Shorthorn Lassie Queen
Nov 18
Nov 19--1931 The first night classes ever conducted in Comanche County were held at Bowman School
taught by W.C. Compton
Nov 20 1989 DeLoyn Singleton honored for 23 years of service to De Leon Welfare
Nov 21
Nov 22--1935 WPA announces approval for construction of auditorium and gym which ends up in city hall
1937 First November snowfall since 1918.
1880 Coal mine north of town reaches 103 feet in depth
Nov 23--1874 Robert Leslie becomes the last person killed by Indians in Comanche County
1939 Bearcat Band makes first appearance in new uniforms. Uniforms were used until 1955
Nov 24--1940 Dr. Reynolds moves from Guinns and opens his Medical Arts Clinic.
Nov 26--1939 Ripley’s Believe It or Not features 40 year old shoes owned and still worn by B.J. Pittman Sr.
Nov 27--1930 John Carl Haskins becomes radio announcer on KRLD in Dallas.
1934 Blue and White Cafe opens
Nov 28--1967 MKT abandons railroad
Nov 29--1967 Last MKT train leas De Leon with engines 121 and 64 pulling 44 cars
Nov 30--1922 Post Office in Jakehamon closes.
1925 Assembly of God organized.
Dec 1--1897 One of several immigrant trains from northern Mississippi arrives at noon with Scott, Dodson and Nabors
familes. Snow falls later that day.
1969 De Leon’s Honk Irvin inducted into Texas High school Football Hall of Fame
1930 De Leon’s A&P Grocery closes store and moves out in early morning hours.
Dec 2--1967 New Texas Central Railroad begins operation
1930 Dockum Baptist church located about 6 miles north of De Leon is destroyed by fire
1937 Paving of Austin and Houston streets that began on Jul 17 is completed
1929 Grace Whaley opens Christmas shop
1932 De Leon wins its first Bi-district football Championship defeating Albany 13-0
Dec 3--1937 De Leon puts up 7 strings of Christmas lights for first time across main street
Dec 4--1952 De Leon Community Club organized at Travelers Hotel
1981 De Leon’s Centennial Queen, Mrs. V./V. Bell celebrated her 100th birthday.
Dec 5---1929 Cowboy Jim Kelly, holder of the flying endurance record, lands in De Leon to pick up
passengers for Fort Worth
Dec 6--1917 De Leon departs by train for State Championship game in Greenville
Dec 7--1917 Greenville beats De Leon 20-0 for state football title
De Leon wears maroon and white for the first time.
Dec 8--1932 Prohibition rally held in De Leon
Dec 9--1934 Honk Irvin and his New York Giants team mates win NFL championship in the famous “Gumshoe Game” beating Chicago.
1990 St. Joe Baptist Church dedicates new building.
1955 theme of football banquet is the new fight song written by Ernest Repass.
Dec 10--1932 De Leon took on Wink in its first Regional Championship Football Game
Dec 11--1896 Seventy families arrive from Mississippi
Dec 12
Dec 13--1923 De Leon gas company offers to provide free gas if De Leon installs gas lighting for city streets
Dec 14--1923 Former Bearcat ralph Pittman elected Captain of Baylor Bears for next season
Dec 15--1929 J. Doss Miller dies
Dec 16--1919 De Leon votes to to become Home Rule-Mayor-Council government
1950 2,500 attend F&M Bank’s open house at newly remodeled facilities
Dec 18--1934 Wonder Map of Texas stops in De Leon on tour of state
1939 Church of God moves into its new building.
1976 De Leon defeated by Barbers Hill in State Championship game 17-8.
Dec 19--1975 BEARCATS WIN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN FOOTBALL DEFEATING SCHULENBURG 26-15.
1919 Charter granted for Gulf-Desdemona and Northern Railroad Co. from De Leon northward
Dec 20--1929 Four inches of snow falls over 12 hour period.
1992 President Clinton appoints Bobby Charles Simpson to the National Committee for Employment Policy
1948 First Baptist dedicates carollonic bells
Dec 21---1935 Joe Coleman resigns as Bearcat head coach to take Odessa job.
Dec 24--1929 Garner-Avis store closes after 10 years in De Leon
Dec 25--1926 De Leon awakens to its only white Christmas as 5 inches of snow falls
Dec 26--1926 De Leon city band formed
Dec 27--1934 Robinson Springs school board votes to merge into De Leon at end of holidays
Dec 28---1982 De Leon depot used as backdrop for Levi Jean ad in Europe.
1920 De Leon purchases water tower for $1,461.37 (the one that stood just east of the present tower)
Dec 29--1938 Guinns purchase Harmon Drug
Dec 30--1948 Carl Simpson installs first television set in De Leon-a ten inch screen, R.G. Fincher follows with the second in Jan ‘49
Dec 31--1934 C.R. Redden retires as Post Master 1934
1930 W.H. Williams retires as President of Higginbothams
1927 Fire destroys De Leon Laundry
Page last updated: July 11, 2009
DE LEON CALENDAR
Emmett Howard in his
Cowboy Band uniform
Dan Moody
James Allred