The Old San Antonio Road brushes Leon County's southern edge

Leon County's southern boundary carries a road story older than the county. The main route of the Old San Antonio Road passed along what is now that boundary. Martin de Alarcon crossed the future county's southeastern tip in 1718.

The Spanish left no permanent settlement in the county. Later arrivals followed the old road west from Nacogdoches, while others came up the Trinity River from the coast. Leona became the county seat near the road in 1846.

County business moved to Centerville in 1851 after Texas required the offices to sit near the county's geographic center. The old route had already linked Spanish travel, settler arrivals, and Leon County's 1846 courthouse town along the southern edge.