Originally called "Keno" for a variation of lotto gambling, the town was settled in the 1860's. Ecclesiastical and commercial pressure changed the name to "Leno" in 1876. A grist and saw mill, cotton gin, stores, and hotel sprang up in the settlement. Railroad construction bypassed the town, and by the 1890's Leno became a ghost town. The site of old Leno (O'Leno) was purchased by the state as a park and forestry station in 1934.