A road known by any other name

Editor’s Note: Take a look back at the Dallas Morning News Archives.

“Call it a buffalo trail.

Call it an Indian War Path or a Military Road or the Austin Road.

Or the Texas Trail, Preston White Rock Road, an immigrant trail or the “Divide” Road.

Or call it the Cattle Trail, the Shawnee Trail, or the Kansas Trail.

Or just call it Preston Road.

Either way, it’s the oldest north-south street in North Central Texas. “

Adelle Rogers Clark, Lebanon on the Preston (1959)

The cattle path

A busy Dallas street, Preston Road (State Highway 289) extends from the intersection of Armstrong and Oak Lawn to the Texas and Oklahoma border and passes through a number of Collin County’s suburbs. The origin of the road – the Shawnee Trail – extended further north to Kansas and Missouri and acted as a major cattle trail and migrating artery to the north. Preston Road gave rise to the development of several post-Civil War colonies that were eventually incorporated into the cities of Dallas and Frisco.

Take a look back at the beginnings of one of the oldest streets in Texas.

Predecessor to Preston Road

Hundreds of years ago, numerous Indian tribes and herds of buffalo crossed the mile-wide Shawnee Trail, which stretched from Brownsville, Texas to Shawneetown – a Shawnee village on the Texas side of the Red River. That path forked in four directions on the Red River, leading to cities in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.

The Dallas Morning News reported in 1943: “The old Shawnee Trail, which ran from south and central Texas to Kansas and Missouri, also came near Dallas and crossed the Red River through Denison. As the border shifted west, the larger trails west of Dallas opened up and fed millions of Texas Longhorns in the pastures of Kansas and Missouri and the western states. “

The stuff of the road

In the 1830s, Col. William G. Cooke surveyed central Texas to establish a military outpost route for the Republic of Texas. By 1843, a military road intersected with the Shawnee Trail, which ran from Austin to Coffee’s Trading Post on the Red River. The northern terminus of the Texan portion of the trail was dovetailed with the parish of Preston. This north-south road went by many names including Preston Road, Military Road, Texas Road, and the Kansas Trail.

Some sources cite William Gilwater Preston, who is considered the commanding officer in the Army of the Republic of Texas, as the namesake of Preston Road. However, the Texas State Historical Association and coverage in The News document doubts about its existence.

Street trade and migration flourished, and by the 1840s drovers brought Texas Longhorns to the Midwestern railways and markets. A descendant of early Frisco settlers, Adelle Rogers Clark wrote in her book Lebanon on the Preston: “No one will ever be able to estimate the number of people who have traveled Preston Road. Many wore moccasins; some were wearing boots … some came from Europe, others from Canada and Mexico. “

In 1872 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Bridge was built over the Red River in Denison. The bridge as well as the fear of the Midwestern states of cattle fleas led to a rejuvenated use of the path.

As the trail faded over time, its legacy lives on in folklore, particularly through reports of “ghost” pioneers reportedly seen at night on Preston Road between Spring Valley and Belt Line Roads.

The missing descendants of Preston Road

Preston Road was responsible for developing numerous colonies in North Texas, including Frankford, Renner, Cedar Springs, and Lebanon.

FAR NORTH DALLAS

Frankfurt

Indians and later European settlers visited Indian Springs, a tributary of White Rock Creek west of Preston Road. This spring of running water near what is now the Bent Tree Country Club quenched the thirst of weary travelers.

Members of Boy Scout Troop 714 dig for artifacts on the former Frankford City site at 17405 Muirfield Drive near the intersection of Dallas North Tollway and Frankford Road. Behind the scouts is the Church of Holy Communion and the Episcopal Church. (October 18, 2003)(GARY PAYNE / 192039)

In 1852, Captain WC McKamy bought land in the Indian Springs area from Peters Colony settlers, and the parish grew to about 80 residents. In September 1873, McKamy sold five acres to the White Rock Masonic Lodge to build a church. The town’s residents were buried in Frankford Cemetery. The cemetery and church are still standing.

Margaret McKamy, wife of Frankford settler Captain WC McKamy, was one of the first to be buried in Frankford Cemetery, Dallas (2003).Margaret McKamy, wife of Frankford settler Captain WC McKamy, was one of the first to be buried in Frankford Cemetery, Dallas (2003).(VERNON BRYANT)

DOWNTOWN DALLAS

Cedar feathers

Further south, Cedar Springs provided another source of water for North American Indians, cowboy herders, and pioneers. At the beginning of 1843, Dr. John Cole set up camp in what is now Turtle Creek Park, and in May of that year Cole bought the surrounding land and turned it into a village. According to its historical marker, “the name of the parish may have been taken from the abundance of cedar trees near the springs”.

In 1850, Cedar Springs finished second behind Dallas in the race for permanent county seat. In the late 19th century, Cedar Springs was absorbed by Oak Lawn, which was annexed to the city of Dallas in the early 20th century.

FRISCO

Lebanon

North of State Highway 121 and west of Preston Road, the farming village of Lebanon developed in the mid-19th century when travelers stopped on Preston and searched the Blackland prairies. Business in Lebanon in the 1890s was brisk, with a post office, blacksmith shop, drugstore, general store, doctors, shoemaker, hairdresser, and a number of farm shops.

Lebanon Historical Marker near the intersection of Gaylord and Preston Road in Frisco (2015).Lebanon Historical Marker near the intersection of Gaylord and Preston Road in Frisco (2015).(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

In 1902, the city of Frisco arose three miles from Lebanon next to the nascent St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, commonly known as Frisco. Slowly, the residents of Lebanon moved to Frisco for easier transportation.

The Lebanon Baptist Church and the Crozier-Sickles House – two buildings that were part of the Lebanese community – have been moved from their original location to the Frisco Heritage Center.

Lebanon Baptist Church in the Frisco Heritage Center in Frisco (2015).Lebanon Baptist Church in the Frisco Heritage Center in Frisco (2015).(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

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