[3] In 1895, gold was discovered in the area by prospector Edward "Doodah" Sullivan at the Johannesburg lease just north of the current townsite.

The Sons of Gwalia gold mine brought Leonora to the attention of the world.

[5][6][7] Leonora had a single track passenger tramway linking the town and nearby Gwalia, from 1901 to 1921.

[8][9] A reverse osmosis desalination treatment plant was opened in October 2005 to improve the quality of the town's water supply from the Station Creek wellfield by reducing the naturally occurring high levels of salinity, nitrate and hardness.

It was designed to supply 2.5 million litres (660 thousand US gallons) of treated water per day.