Preston Trail, later known as the Old Preston Road, was a road created by the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

in 1841 from

Preston, Texas Preston, also known as Preston Bend, is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place located on the Red River of the South, Red River in Grayson County, Texas, United States. It grew in the 19th century at the int ...

on the Red River south to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. This road closely followed an existing trail that led across the area that had been used for centuries. This road was a main transportation artery from

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...

North Texas North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...

in the latter half of the 19th century. Today,

Texas State Highway 289 State Highway 289, known for most of its length as Preston Road, is a north–south Texas state highway. It begins at the intersection of Preston Road and Loop 12/Northwest Highway in Dallas. The Preston Road designation comes from the f ...

follows near this former road.

History

Ancient trail

The Preston Trail followed an ancient Indian trail extending from Mexico through central Texas to what is now

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and even on to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

where the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

Indians lived. Parts of this old trail became known as the

Chihuahua Trail El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (), also known as the Silver Route, was a Spanish road between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo (''Ohkay Owingeh''), New Mexico (in the modern U.S.), that was used from 1598 to 1882. It was the northernmost of t ...

. Extending northwards from Cedar Springs to the Red River, the Old Preston Road crossed very few streams. It followed a geographic spine of topography that still exists today where rainwater draining to the west flows into the Elm Fork of the Trinity River and rainwater draining to the east flows into the East Fork of the Trinity River until the rivers merge downstream of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Road

The route of the Preston Trail followed the earlier cattle trail that came to be known as the

Texas Road The Texas Road, also known as the Shawnee Trail, or Shawnee-Arbuckle Trail, was a major trade and emigrant route to Texas across Indian Territory (later Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri). Established during the Mexican War by emigrants rushing to ...

(also known as the Shawnee Trail). The Texas Road was in use in the early 1840s.

Military road

Preston Trail became part of the first official Texas military road in 1839. In the autumn that year,

Albert Sidney Johnston General officer, General Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) was an American military officer who served as a general officer in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States ...

(who was at that time the Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas) sent soldiers under the command of Colonel William Gordon Cooke to build a road from the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

to the Red River and establish frontier forts to protect settlers from Indian attacks. In 1840, 23-year-old William Gilwater Preston was the commanding officer of a unit of Republic of Texas soldiers stationed at the newly founded Fort Preston near

, on the Red River. These soldiers were responsible for building a road from Preston to Austin, Texas. The road was surveyed in 1840. The Preston Trail extended from its southern terminus in Austin northwards to Cedar Springs (now part of downtown Dallas). From that point, it was known as Preston Road. Preston Road extended about further northwards from the Trinity River at Dallas through

, Collin and Grayson Counties to the town of Preston, where it joined Texas Road. Texas Road then crossed the Red River as it headed north toward Missouri. According to Gary and Margaret Kraisinger, " Completed in 1843, the Preston road ended just below the confluence of the

Washita River The Washita River () is a river in the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. The river is long and terminates at its confluence with the Red River of the South, Red River, which is now part of Lake Texoma () on the TexasOklahoma border. Geogra ...

and the Red River at Washita Bend."

Texas State Highway 289

Today, Texas State Highway 289, also known as the modern Preston Road, closely follows the path of the original Preston Trail.

Modern influence

Preston Road State Highway 289, known for most of its length as Preston Road, is a north–south Texas state highway. It begins at the intersection of Preston Road and Texas State Highway Loop 12, Loop 12/Northwest Highway in Dallas. The Preston Road ...

is a major commercial roadway that stretches from

north through the suburbs of Plano, Frisco, Prosper, and Celina. The road is named after and follows the general route of the original trail. Statues installed along the road in Frisco depict the Native Americans, cattle drivers, and settlers who used the trail. The Preston Ridge Campus of

Collin College Collin College is a Public college, public community college district in Texas. Established in 1985, the district has grown as the county has grown from around 5,000 students in 1986 to more than 60,000 credit and noncredit students. Formerl ...

in Frisco is named after the ridge and has been built near the original trail/ridge. The Centre at Preston Ridge is a major shopping center in Frisco adjacent to Preston Road and the ridge. It contains statues representing a

cattle drive Droving is the practice of walking livestock over long distances. It is a type of herding, often associated with cattle, in which case it is a cattle drive (particularly in the US). Droving stock to market—usually on foot and often with the ...

on the trail and includes

obelisks An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' rotisserie, spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called Obelisk (hieroglyph), ...

with historical information about the trail.
Preston Trail Community Church
on Independence Parkway in Frisco is also named after the trail (its first location on Main Street was close to the trail).