In the 1840s and 1850s travelers moved in covered wagons south along the Shawnee Trail also known as the Texas Road and Preston Road. Travelers camped where there was a source of pure water, firewood and native grasses for their animals. The site we now know as Frankford had all of these elements. The springs on the west side of the creek on the property had been used by Native Americans and others for centuries. The area west of the creek was perfect for camping with its soft prairie grasses, and the creek beds were abundant with trees for firewood.
Later the tiny town of Frankford grew up around Indian Springs. In the 1880s the town began to diminish after the Cotton Belt Railroad built a station at Addison, south of Frankford. By 1910 all that remained of the town of Frankford were Frankford Church and Cemetery. A few farm families remained but Indian Springs was not as vital as it once was.
In the 1930s during a drought, someone covered Indian Springs with a concrete “cap.” It is surmised that this was done to provide more pressure for Keller Springs to the south, which was more accessible to the road making it easy for people to drive by to fill containers with water. Today, Indian Springs at Frankford flows again. Master naturalists known as the Stream Team regularly test the water of all the everlasting springs in the Dallas area, including Indian Springs at Frankford. These dedicated people report that the water of Indian Springs is amazingly pure and drinkable even today.
~ Frances Bates Wells, J. C. Foster
Please click here to see a video of a peaceful moment at our Indian Springs on a day in early June 2022.
