[2][3][4] The town was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and built for the New South Wales government early 20th century irrigation schemes.

The town is named after Charles Alfred Lee, a Minister for Public Works in New South Wales from 1904 to 1910.

[15] When the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission of New South Wales was formed on 1 January 1913, Leeton was a canvas town, with the only houses being on farms built by settlers or the Commission-built homes for officers.

[18] In August of the same year, Walter Burley Griffin visited the town to complete its design.

[20] During 1920, the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission of New South Wales began to pressure the Government for relief for being responsible for providing civic and local government services with the Commission stating "revenue which comes mainly from rents and water charges, having remained unchanged, is insufficient to cover the cost of local government services now that the weekly wage is more than double the figure paid when the settlement started".

[21] The Commission chose and appointed an advisory board which was made up of pioneer farmers which already had been in operation in the Yanco area since 1913.

[22] In 1929 the Roxy Theatre was built on a large vacant block of land on the corner of Wade and Pine Avenue and was completed and opened in April 1930.

[23] In 1930 Willimbong Shire become the trustee of the Leeton Racecourse, established in 1912, when the land was appropriated as a reserve for racing, public recreation and aviation.

[24] Willimbong Shire agreed to lease the land with preliminary work carried out on the site but the aerodrome was never used by any commercial airline.

[24] During World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force established a training school in the nearby town of Narrandera which was a large aerodrome.

[25] Rice growing became a major industry during World War II, under government promotion to help supply food for troops.

[26] The Irrigana Festival began in 1959 as a biennial event but was short lived due to a lack of strong publicity value.

Other major companies include The Daily Juice Company, JBS Australia (as a subsidiary of JBS S.A.), Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited, Pacific Fresh,Toorak Wines, Lillypilly Wines and Southern Central Engineering, as well as the Arnott's Group,[7] located in Stanbridge, and Southern Cotton, located in Whitton.

[39] Leeton has a number of town landmarks, including the Roxy Theatre, War Memorial, Madonna Place, St Peter's Church and The Burley Griffin water towers.