[8] The town was named in honor of Leander "Catfish" Brown, one of the railroad officials responsible for the completion of the line.

[8][9] Tumlinson Fort, the first white settlement in Williamson County, was established in early January 1836 at the headwaters of Brushy Creek, four miles south of present-day Leander.

[10] The Webster Massacre occurred near present-day Leander in August 1839, when a party of about 30 settlers traveling westward through the area were attacked by Comanche Indians and all but three were killed.

[11] It was near Leander that the Leanderthal Lady, a skeleton dating back 10,000 to 13,000 years, was discovered; the site was one of the earliest intact burials found in the United States.

[12] In August and September 2011, destructive wildfires swept through two central Leander neighborhoods, burning a total of 330 acres (130 ha) and destroying 26 homes.

Leander is located at the intersection of Ranch to Market Road 2243 and U.S. Route 183, approximately 22 miles northwest of Downtown Austin.