Leon is a city in and the county seat of Decatur County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,822 at the time of the 2020 census.
The city is located near the Little River Lake Recreation Area. Leon is home to a major rodeo that has been Rodeo of the Year in Iowa for many years.
History
Center Township was organized as part of the formation of the county on 1 April 1850. Because Decatur City was inaccessible to the rest of the county during the area's periodic floods, a majority of the county voted to move the county seat to a nearby location east of the Little River. Because the residents of Decatur City refused to respect the results of the vote, the county records were stolen and moved by ox-drawn wagon under cover of darkness. The new settlement was originally named Independence, but that name was soon discovered to have already been taken by another town in Buchanan County. It was then renamed before the state legislator and veteran W.H. Cheevers successfully argued for renaming it Leon in honor of the Jewish "Fighting Doctor" David Camden de Leon in 1855.
It was formally incorporated as a city in 1858. It was a shipping point on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.
Geography
Leon is located on US Route 69 and Iowa Highway 2 approximately 12 miles northeast of Lamoni.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Leon has a hot-summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps.