San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
GET TO KNOW LEON VALLEY
A thriving enclave surrounded by S.A.
Leon Valley is a city in Bexar County, surrounded by the ever growing San Antonio, that follows most of the same story beats as others like Alamo Heights and Live Oak — annexation and taxes. Beside that, Leon Valley has a lot going for it despite only covering 3.4 square miles, especially with two main thoroughfares running through the city.
But did you know the namesake of Huebner Road owned most of the land now known as Leon Valley? Or that a descendant of the “father of Texas” helped incorporate the town? Did you know there is an aquarium in Leon Valley?
Keep reading for everything to know about this enclave on the northwest side of San Antonio that is just 71 years old.
San Antonio is coming
Like Alamo Heights, Leon Valley was a mostly rural community that feared losing its identity when the citizens heard that San Antonio was expanding and looking to take over. Texas allowed Leon Valley to incorporate into a home rule city with a mayor and city council on March 31, 1952, according to the city’s website.
There’s a little more significance to that story, according to a 2017 issue of the Great Northwest Guide, and it involves Stephen F. Austin. Not that Stephen F. Austin, but a descendant of the empresario who is credited with bringing Anglo settlers into Texas. This Austin was a real estate developer, rancher and oil producer, according to his obituary.
Austin owned the Seneca Country
Club and developed Unit 1 of the
Seneca Estates, a neighborhood that he
submitted to the state as the basis for Leon Valley’s incorporation. He did this with the help of Judge John F. Onion. We’ll see that family name return later.
Joseph Huebner’s tie to Leon Valley
If you’re a fan of the Flying Saucer or Magnolia Pancake Haus, then you’re familiar with Joseph Huebner’s last name. His ties to Leon Valley run a little deeper, according to the same issue of the Great Northwest Guide. Starting in 1858 and