1. Before 1841

   The Elm Fork and Stewart Creek

   The Colony sits on the eastern shore of today’s Lewisville Lake, in the valley of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

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   Long before any survey lines, the land that became The Colony was part of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River valley in southeastern Denton County. Over geologic time, the city’s comprehensive plan notes, inland seas repeatedly covered North Central Texas and then retreated toward the present-day Gulf of Mexico. Those ancient seas left behind the layered limestone and clay soils that later drew farmers to the creek bottoms here.

   Today about 23 miles of Lewisville Lake shoreline lie inside the city limits, and Stewart Creek reaches the lake on the city’s western side. The creek takes its name from Isaac F. Stewart, a settler of the 1840s. Native peoples lived in and traveled through the wider North Texas region for centuries before Anglo-American settlement, though the specific groups who used this site aren’t documented in the sources reviewed.

2. 1841–1852

   Peters Colony and Bridges Settlement

   The Republic of Texas’s Peters Colony grant brought settlers north, and in 1844 its headquarters moved to Bridges Settlement, inside today’s city.

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   Peters Colony was the common name for the first empresario contract the Republic of Texas legislature authorized, granted to William S. Peters and nineteen associates. It ran from 1841 until June 30, 1848. Its operator, the Texas Emigration and Land Company of Louisville, Kentucky, could give settlers up to 640 acres for building a cabin, farming 15 acres and pledging allegiance to the Republic. Sources count eight to thirteen grant holders inside today’s limits.

   John and Mildred Bridges settled here in 1843, in what is considered the first settlement in Denton County. In 1844, principal investor Willis Stewart moved the company’s headquarters to Bridges Settlement, and the surrounding land became Stewartsville, with the area’s first general store and post office. Armed land speculators burned the headquarters in the 1852 Hedgecoxe War, but agent Henry O. Hedgecoxe escaped with many company records.

3. 1853–1901

   Stewart’s Creek and Bridges Cemetery

   The settlement became Stewart’s Creek, with a post office, school and church, and Bridges Cemetery is now the city’s oldest landmark.

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   After the Hedgecoxe War, Bridges Settlement took a new name, Stewart’s Creek, for settler Isaac F. Stewart, whose brothers Willis and James had invested in Peters Colony, according to the city-published history Bridges to the Future. A Stewart’s Creek post office opened on March 4, 1859, and the community supported a school and a Baptist church. Rector and Camey are other historic communities inside today’s limits.

   Bridges Cemetery, at Morning Star and Chesapeake drives, sits on William Bridges’ 1850 Peters Colony tract. Its Texas Historical Commission marker, No. 508, was approved in 1986 for the Texas Sesquicentennial and dedicated in June 1988. The marker dates burials to 1855 and notes more than one hundred sandstone and granite markers. A 2016 survey found 141 graves and potential graves, and the state named it a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2018.

4. 1902–1940s

   Camey Spur and the Cotton Years

   A 1902 rail line created Camey, the most successful of the communities that came before the city. It faded by the 1940s.

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   Camey, also called Camey Spur, became the area’s most successful community after the St. Louis–San Francisco railroad line began operating in 1902, according to the City of The Colony. The railroad shifted the local economy from cattle raising toward cotton farming. In the 1920s, the city says, Camey had a reported population of about 50, with a school, grocery store, blacksmith shop, restaurant and cotton gin.

   Camey faded in the early 1940s, and its land went back to farming. The city’s comprehensive plan places the former Camey Spur in what is now The Legends area. The name lived on: Camey Elementary, which opened in 1977, became the city’s first public school. Other place names sometimes linked to the area, such as Hebron and Hackberry, aren’t on the city’s list of historic communities inside its limits.

5. 1924–1975

   Two Dams and a Lake

   Two dams on the Elm Fork created the lake behind the “City by the Lake” slogan, though the lake’s name wasn’t settled until the 1970s.

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   The City of Dallas built Lake Dallas on the Elm Fork with the Garza Dam, named for the nearby village of Garza, which became Lake Dallas in 1929. City of Dallas archives date construction from 1924 to 1927, paid for through a 1923 bond election, while the Handbook of Texas gives a 1928 start. For about three decades, Lake Dallas served as the principal municipal water source for Dallas.

   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers then built the larger Garza-Little Elm Dam. Impoundment began November 1, 1954, and the dam was completed in 1955, the year it was renamed Lewisville Dam. The old Garza Dam was breached on October 28, 1957, merging the two lakes. The reservoir became Lewisville Lake in the 1970s; the Handbook of Texas says the mid-1970s, and a 2025 Dallas Morning News report gives 1971.

6. 1960s–1977

   Fox & Jacobs and Incorporation

   Fox and Jacobs began a planned community in 1973, and voters approved incorporation on January 15, 1977, by 459 to 37.

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   Eastvale, a small lakeside community, began on the eastern shore in the early 1960s. In 1973, Dallas developer Fox and Jacobs bought land south of Eastvale near SH 121 and FM 423; the city puts the purchase at about 2,500 acres, while the Handbook of Texas says some 3,000. Streets were poured in 1974, and the first residents moved in that October. The developer chose the name to honor Peters Colony.

   The development sat in Frisco’s extraterritorial jurisdiction until residents moved to incorporate. On January 15, 1977, voters approved incorporation 459 to 37. D Magazine reported that, at about 3,500 residents, it was the largest community in Texas ever to seek incorporation. Residents chose the name The Colony in two polls, and the City Council ratified it in May 1977. That makes 2027 the city’s 50th anniversary.

7. 1978–2010

   Home Rule, Eastvale and Rapid Growth

   A 1979 home rule charter set up council-manager government, and the population more than tripled between 1980 and 2010.

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   Residents approved a home rule charter in 1979 that set up council-manager government, according to the Handbook of Texas. Early milestones, according to the city, included a fire station donated by Fox and Jacobs in 1975, the first business, a Stop ’n Go, in 1976, and Peters Colony Elementary in 1979. The Colony Public Library opened in 1982, and the Five Star Complex was dedicated in 2003.

   On April 7, 1987, Eastvale voters approved consolidation with The Colony by a margin of 75 to 71, adding the older lakeside community to the city. Census counts trace the growth that followed: 11,586 residents in 1980, 22,113 in 1990, 26,531 in 2000 and 36,328 in 2010. Growth was fastest in the 1980s, slowed in the 1990s and picked up again as development reached the lake peninsulas.

8. 1998–2023

   Golf, Austin Ranch and a Waterpark

   Lakeside golf communities, The Tribute and Austin Ranch shaped the city’s northwest and southeast edges.

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   Billingsley Co. began acquiring Austin Ranch land in the 1970s, and its first construction phase started in 1998, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The development spans The Colony, Carrollton and Plano. On the city’s northwest shore, Matthews Southwest opened The Tribute Golf Links in 2000 and began home sales in 2007. Old American Golf Club followed on September 1, 2010.

   The Tribute grew to cover about 1,600 acres, with plans for more than 3,000 homes, according to a 2024 Dallas Morning News report. Hawaiian Falls reached an agreement with the city in late 2003 and built its waterpark at 4400 Paige Road. Operator Premier Parks renamed it Hawaiian Waters in May 2023. The park still opens each summer, and its 2026 season ran from May into September.

9. 2011–2026

   Nebraska Furniture Mart and Grandscape

   Nebraska Furniture Mart anchored the 433-acre Grandscape district on SH 121, which added a wave of entertainment in 2026.

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   Nebraska Furniture Mart announced its Texas store in November 2011, and by June 2013 it was calling the surrounding 433-acre, $1.5 billion project Grandscape. The store soft-opened on March 4, 2015, and held its grand opening on May 7, 2015, according to WFAA. Scheels opened on May 1, 2020, as Texas eased its stay-at-home order, according to the Dallas Morning News.

   2026 brought a wave of entertainment openings at Grandscape. Mavericks Dance Hall opened February 13, and TOCA Social opened its first U.S. venue on March 6. The Rustic took the former Lava Cantina space at 5805 Grandscape Boulevard. A 155,000-square-foot Costco was slated for October 2026, and the first White Castle in Texas broke ground June 2 for a planned late-fall opening.

10. 2020–2027

    Toward 50 Years

    The Colony counted 44,534 residents in 2020 and is preparing for the 50th anniversary of its incorporation in 2027.

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    The 2020 census counted 44,534 residents. The Census Bureau estimated 46,196 for July 1, 2025, up 3.7 percent from the 2020 base. On September 1, 2026, the City Council adopted a property tax rate of $0.6275 per $100 of taxable value for fiscal 2026–27. That was a quarter-cent cut and, the city says, the 26th consecutive year the rate was reduced or held flat.

    Incorporation turns 50 in January 2027. The Colony Public Library and its Local History Committee held a “Fifty Years of The Colony” event on October 5, 2024, marking half a century since the first homeowners arrived in 1974, and staff described it as groundwork for a larger celebration. A “50 Years of The Colony” story map followed in September 2026. The city calls itself the “City by the Lake.”

Compiled from the City of The Colony’s city history page and comprehensive plan, the city-published Bridges to the Future, the Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas, City of Dallas archives, the Historical Marker Database, D Magazine (1977), the North Central Texas Council of Governments, The Dallas Morning News, WFAA, the Omaha World-Herald, Community Impact, Local Profile, FOX 4, Star Local Media and U.S. Census counts. Sources conflict on several points: Lake Dallas construction (1924–27 vs. a 1928 start), when the lake became Lewisville Lake (1971 vs. the mid-1970s), the Fox and Jacobs purchase (2,500 vs. 3,000 acres), Peters Colony grant holders inside the city (eight vs. thirteen) and Bridges Cemetery dates (burials from 1855 or 1857). The name The Colony was ratified by the City Council, not by election; the January 1977 election was for incorporation. “Hedgecoxe” is the city’s spelling; the Handbook and state markers use “Hedgcoxe.” Austin Ranch spans three cities. Native peoples are described at the regional level. Bobby Franklin, REALTOR®, TREC #0805459, Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team.