Prairie Lea is an unincorporated community in Caldwell County, Texas, United States.

The community, Caldwell County's oldest, was built on the 1820 land grant of Joe Martin of Gonzales.

Growth followed the establishment of a sawmill, gristmill, and gin by Thomas Mooney on the nearby San Marcos River.

During the Civil War, men from Prairie Lea served with John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade and joined forces with an army in northern Virginia and took part in the ill-fated Sibley Campaign in New Mexico Territory.

The community organized the men's return and provided them with food, paid for by donations and a local tax.

[3] Prairie Lea experienced a decline during the Reconstruction era, and part of the town was destroyed by a fire in the 1870s.