Leopold, Missouri

Leopold is an unincorporated community in eastern Bollinger County, Missouri, United States. It is located on a state road, Highway N, about seven miles southeast of Marble Hill.The community consists of roughly 250 residents and has one of the smallest high schools in the state of Missouri. The community is heavily Roman Catholic and of Dutch-German descent.

Leopold is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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History of Leopold

"'In 1856, Reverend John van Luytelaar established Vinemount, Missouri. Rev. John and 12 other families went looking for farm land. Among the families who made the trip included Clement Beel, John Debrock, Herman Elfrink, Jacob Holweg, Arnold Jansen, F. Meyer, A. Rickhoff, John Scharenborg, J. G. Sonderen, J.W. Tuling, and Wm. Wardracker. Wm. Wardracker was unable to make the pioneer life and left back for Cincinnati after two years of living here.

These families traveled down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi River by boat to Cape Girardeau and then found the community of Vinemount. Other families followed them and the community was starting to unfold.

In 1894 the first post office was built to serve the town of Vinemount. In the process of building the post office, they realized there was already a post office in Missouri by the name of Vinemount. This was when a name change was in order. The people then decided on the name of "Leopolis" (City of Leo), in honor of the Pope. This name was rejected and the present name, Leopold, was then proposed and accepted. [http://schoolweb.missouri.edu/leopold.k12.mo.us/comunity.htm]

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Education

"'With an enrollment of a little over 200 students in K-12, the Leopold R-III School District ranks as one of the smallest public schools in southeast Missouri. The Southeast Missourian newspaper, which circulates throughout much of the region, named Leopold the best public school in the area for the second year in a row during the 2006-2007 school year. [http://www.semissourian.com/story/1185151.html] [http://www.semissourian.com/story/1128906.html] The school's mascot is the wildcat, and its colors are blue and white. Activities at the school consist of Beta Club, Business Club, Science Fair Club, Student Activities Council, Photography Club, and the LHS Concert Choir. Athletics include basketball (boys only), volleyball (girls only), baseball (boys), softball (girls), and cheerleading. The school has a reputation for its stellar volleyball program, with the high school teams posting at least 20 wins in a season on average. The Leopold Lady Wildcats' varsity volleyball team has won three MSHSAA Class 1A state volleyball championships in 1993-1994, 1997-1998, and 2002-2003. The Lady Wildcats won third place during the 2007-2008 season, defeating Osceola for the title. Volleyball tends to bring the whole community out especially during competitive matches. [http://www.semissourian.com/story/91720.html]