Today, when you give directions to Leggett to someone outside of our county, you probably say, “on Highway 59 North, turn at the blinking light at FM 942.” Now there is also another glaring marker on 59 North. It is a 70 mile an hour speed sign next to a notice that you are entering a 55 mile an hour zone. Some of my friends say that this is just another way of saying “don’t blink.”
Leggett is an unincorporated community in our county. Some of our historians have suggested the beginning of Leggett was when the H.E. and W.T. Railroad was extended from Livingston to Leggett in 1885. But the post office was established in 1882 and there were already a couple of general stores, a sawmill, a bank, a cotton gin, and of course, a saloon. So, this was an established community already before it became Leggett.
Before the post office, this community was known as Red Horse. Will Freeman was the owner of several businesses along Hwy. 59. His son, who was a very active, red-headed young boy was given the nickname of “Red Horse.” Mr. Freeman liked the nickname. He made a wooden sign with a horse and the words, “Red Horse” on it. He hung this sign on the front of his store and thus this area became known as Red Horse. And that saloon of course, was the Red Horse Saloon. I understand that a descendant of Mr. Freeman’s still has that sign. I hope so.
A meeting place for worship and social gatherings was always one of the first public buildings for early settlers. Baptist and Methodist faiths were the religion choices of this community. Caraway Oates was instrumental in getting the first Baptist church organized. He named it New Salem Baptist and it eventually became the present-day Jones Prairie Baptist Church which is still functioning today. The First Baptist Church of Leggett was organized in the early 1900s and is still an active congregation. A Methodist church was organized before 1890, but most of the members moved away soon after. In 1912, another Methodist church was organized, and a new church building was built on FM 942 East. But today, there is not a Methodist church in Leggett.
There are two large cemeteries in Leggett. Jones Prairie, or Crossroads, as it is sometimes called, is located on FM 942 East across from the Jones Prairie Baptist Church. The original land was donated by the Thomas Jones family in 1906. The other cemetery is Oates Cemetery which is located off Upper Leggett Road. This cemetery was originally the Oates Family Cemetery. It is now the resting place for many Leggett folks, including veterans from all wars. It was awarded a Texas Historical Marker in 2009.
The first school in this area was in the Shady Grove community in 1858. It was a typical one-room building with open windows. As in most schools of that day, all classes met together with one teacher. Pictures are available of student groups from 1908 to 1913. The next school was in the Jones Prairie area of this community. It was in the same location as the present-day Leggett School. It also began as a one-room school building with additional rooms and facilities added as needed. Mr. Ray Marsh was the principal of the school in 1936. He became the superintendent before moving to become Livingston High School Principal. Today, Leggett ISD has classes for Pre-Kindergarten through the 12th grade on two campuses.
In the mid-1900s, Leggett had several stores and a pharmacy on Hwy. 59. There were two stores on the west owned by the Freemans and the other by the Glover/ Leggett family. Bill Richardson had a wonderful General Store on the east at the FM 942 East junction. I have wonderful memories of the Richardson store. One could get a double dip ice cream cone for a nickel. Slowly, everything closed, and everyone now goes to Livingston for their shopping.
Today, there is only the Chevron Off the Road Truck Stop and the Leggett Post Office that still use the Leggett zip code of 77350. Any other business in Leggett, even if it is on Hwy. 59, has Livingston’s zip code of 77351. All home delivery, including mail delivery, has a Livingston address.
But back of Hwy. 59, east and west, there is a community of 500-plus families living in a quiet rural setting. Some of us have returned to old family property and built new homes. Others, wanting to get out of the city, have found beautiful acreage to build their dream home and enjoy the peace and quiet of country living. But all of us, no matter how we got here, consider ourselves to be living in Leggett.
“A History of Leggett, Texas” by Norma McLoughlin is the most comprehensive history written about Leggett. A copy is available at the Livingston Municipal Library.
Two oral Interviews with Edward Ward Jones III, sharing his Leggett history, are available on the Polk County Memorial Museum’s website which is polkcountymemorialmuseum. com.
