The railroad moved Leon County's map away from the river

Before the railroad, Leon County's farm trade leaned toward the Trinity River. Farmers used oxcarts and riverboats to move crops. Landings named Cairo, Commerce, Navarro, and Brookfield's Bluff belonged to that river map.

The International-Great Northern Railroad arrived in 1872. It usually moved crops faster and at lower cost than the riverboats, and the old river towns quickly declined. Jewett, Buffalo, and Oakwood grew along the railroad instead.

The line arrived during a much wider farm and population boom. Leon County grew from 6,523 residents in 1870 to 12,817 in 1880. Its number of farms rose from 702 to 1,718 during the same decade.

A new way to move cotton and corn also moved the county's center of gravity. The river-landings faded from the map; the railroad towns became some of Leon County's lasting names.