Leander
Leander, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Leander grew from the once thriving town of Bagdad, founded in 1854 (1 mi. W). when the Austin & Northwestern Railroad bypassed Bagdad in 1882, a new town was surveyed and named for railroad official Leander Brown (1817-89). Homes and businesses from the older community quickly moved to the new site along the rail line.The post office was brought here from Bagdad in 1882. The school started here in 1893 has grown into the largest school district in Williamson County. Originally in a rural area, Leander had boomed in recent years due to Highland Lakes development.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Leander began as a relocation of the older town of Bagdad, founded in 1854, after the Austin & Northwestern Railroad bypassed the original site in 1882. A new town was platted along the rail line and named for railroad official Leander Brown, and homes and businesses simply picked up and moved to it. The post office followed in 1882, and the school that opened in 1893 grew into the county's largest district.
Why it matters
Leander is a textbook case of how railroads reshaped the map, killing off bypassed towns and conjuring new ones wherever the tracks decided to run.
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Related people
- · Leander Brown
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Leander United Methodist Church
Leander, TX
This Methodist congregation was organized around 1860 in Bagdad, a Williamson County community a mile to the west. Early worshipers met with circuit preachers and missionaries in a log schoolhouse and a Masonic hall until they built a sanctuary in 1879. When the railroad drew settlement to Leander in 1901, the church followed, and the old Bagdad sanctuary was moved to land deeded by Sarah J. Walker.
Bagdad Cemetery
Leander, TX
This burial ground opened in 1857 with the grave of three-year-old John Babcock, whose father later deeded the land to the community of Bagdad. Among its early graves lie a Civil War veteran and a colonel, marking a settlement that thrived until 1882, when the railroad ran instead through the new town of Leander and drew the living away. The two communities came to share the cemetery, which was enlarged in later decades.
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