LEO

NAME: Leo COUNTY: N/A ROADS: 4WD GRID: 2 CLIMATE: Mild summer,cold winter BEST TIME TO VISIT: Summer

COMMENTS: East Central Alberta REMAINS: Nothing.

The first Leo, or Old Leo, was located some five miles north of present day Byemoor. It was only a post office at first but by 1905 it became a stopping place for travelers moving through the country looking for land. In the next few years the settlement grew to include a blacksmith shop, a grain elevator, a community hall, and a small creamery. By 1914 the general store became known far and wide as one of the finest places to shop for ladies wear in western Canada. Ladies with the money to by garments imported from Paris were the envy of neighbors for miles around. Then, in 1925, the railway line went by two and one-half miles to the west and the hamlet simply disappeared as, one by one, the buildings were moved to a new town site near the railroad. At its new site, the second Leo emerged bigger and seemingly for keeps. But after a series of poor crops from 1929 through 1932, many farmers left for greener climes to the north. As in Old Leo, but over a much longer period, its buildings were moved away. Today, there is no visible sign that Leo ever existed. H.B. Chenoweth

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