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Leon, the county seat of Decatur County, sits among beautiful wooded rolling hills, filled with an abundance of lakes, rivers, and streams in south central Iowa. Leon has excellent park and recreation facilities which includes Little River Recreation Area. A 787 acre lake contributes to a rare outdoor recreational experience. There are more than 100 modern and primitive campsites available, as well as, picnic facilities, beach areas, boat ramps, bait concessions, boat rental, playgrounds and shelter houses. There are trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding and snowmobiling. Upland game and water fowl hunting is another prime attraction with over 4500 acres of public hunting. More than a 1000 acres of lakes and 38 miles of river waterways lie within 1/2 mile to 15 miles of the city limits. Other facilities within the city limits include three public parks meeting a variety of recreational needs, including Leon municipal swimming pool, a band shelter, picnic playground areas, ball fields and basketball courts. The Decatur County Fair Grounds serves as an entrance to the 1.8 mile concrete paved Little River Scenic Pathway. Enjoy nature while hiking, biking, jogging or exercising at various fitness areas along the trail or just take a leisurely stroll and enjoy a picnic. A beautiful country club with modern clubhouse has a scenic 9 hole-36 par grass green golf course with reasonable green fees for visitors. In downtown Leon you will find craft and antique shops as well as the Decatur County Historical Museum. The history of Decatur County is portrayed in vignettes, from a blacksmith shop to a sitting room. Genealogists find this a great resource facility. Another building is home to a collection of antique farm machinery. A vintage vaudeville theater operated by South Central Iowa Theater (SCIT), a nonprofit corporation supplemented by volunteers, provides movies on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, as well as, live theater performances throughout the year. Local HistoryOn January 18, 1851, an act of the Iowa Legislature was approved, appointing commissioners and providing a county seat town on the main road from Fort Des Moines to Independence Missouri, to be called Decatur City. There were many people in the county who claimed that the selection of the county seat had been illegal. The General Assembly accordingly ordered an election to take place the first Monday in April 1853 to decide again on the location of the county seat. The vote was counted and showed the majority in favor of removing the county seat to a more central location. The new town was to be named Independence. There being another settlement of that name in Iowa, the name was changed to South Independence. The Legislature in the winter of 1854-55 changed the name to Leon in compliance with a petition of the citizens. It is said that the name Leon was suggested by W.H. Cheevers who became attracted by it while serving as soldier in the Mexican War. The first residence log cabin in Leon was located on the lot now occupied by the city garage. After the town was surveyed, Dr. S.C. Thompson built a house and office on the lot now occupied by Mallatt's Apartments. I.N. Clark constructed the first commercial business, a general store, on an adjacent lot. In 1854, the first school was erected in Leon. At the close of that year the town had four stores and about forty residences. Soon a sufficient number of settlers arrived to justify the establishment of a post office and Joshua Davis was the first postmaster.
From 1853 until the commencement of the Civil War, the growth in population was
quite rapid and the town enjoyed lucrative trade. In 1880 the population 1,367;
in l900, 1620; and in 1920, 2009. The census has averaged around 2000 to present
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Arbor Inn is centrally located in Leon, Iowa, two blocks north of the intersection
of Highways 2 & 69 and four miles East of US Interstate 35 (exit 12), just 60
minutes south of Des Moines and 15 minutes from Lamoni.