Some early Frankford residents speculated that the name was chosen because it was descriptive of local conditions. A “ford” is a portion of a stream where the water is shallow enough and the banks low enough to made wading possible for man or animals. “Frank” can mean free with respect to conditions or absence of restrictions. Thus “Frankford” might mean a ford available for public use.
Caroline Drake Nix wrote in her 1900 autobiography that Julia and Warren Cotton’s three-year-old son Frank was the person for whom Frankford community was named. The Cottons came to Texas in 1857 around the time of the development of Frankford community.
~ Frances Bates Wells
