History of Frisco, TX

Frisco, Texas was named “No. 1 Place to Live in America” by Money Magazine in 2018. Read below to learn about the city’s rich history.

The Shawnee Trail

Frisco’s modern history began in the 1840s when American pioneers began traveling south on the Shawnee Trail (today known as Preston Road) by wagon train. The Shawnee Trail which extends from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri was originally a Native American footpath used for hunting and raiding. Ranchers also began to use the Shawnee Trail to drive longhorn cattle north to the markets in the Midwest. With all this activity, small towns, ranches, and farms began to form along the trail.

Lebanon to Frisco

Lebanon was one of the small towns formed along the Shawnee Trail in the mid-1800s. It was granted a post office in 1860. By the 1880s, Lebanon had a school, a cotton gin, a flour mill, a blacksmith, and other small businesses.

In 1902, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (known popularly as the Frisco) was being built in the area. The steam locomotive needed periodic watering stops for its engines, but Lebanon was located too high along the Preston Ridge, so a water stop was placed about four miles west of the town on lower ground. A community grew around the train stop and most the residents and businesses of Lebanon moved to the new town. Some Lebanon residents even rolled their houses down on logs. In 1905, the post office of Lebanon was closed down.

The Frisco Name

The new town was originally named Emerson after Francis Emerson, the owner of the land where the town was located, but the U.S. Postal Service rejected the name because it was too similar to another nearby town, Emberson. After the name was rejected, the town was renamed Frisco City (later shortened to Frisco) after the railway. G.H. Nettleton, the then vice-president of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, came up with the nickname Frisco. “FR” was drawn from San Francisco, “IS” came from the end St. Louis, and “CO” was added for company. In 1902, the first was post office was opened in Frisco.

Agricultural Center

As time went on, Frisco became an agricultural center and remained so for decades. At one point in its history, it had five cotton gins. The population of the town grew slowly and reached a peak of 2,000 until the 1980s.

Frisco Today

In the late 1990s, the suburban development tide hit Frisco and its population boomed. Many professionals who work in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex started to move in Frisco because they were drawn to its quality of life. CNN named the city one of the “Best Places to Live” in the nation in 2011. Frisco, TX was the fastest growing city in the U.S. in 2017 and today boasts a population of over 150,000.

Your Frisco Criminal Defense Attorney

Philip D. Ray is an experienced criminal defense attorney helping the residents of Frisco, TX. If you were accused of a crime, we encourage you to call our office and talk to us about your case at (214) 845-7987.