Of the settlers who journeyed to North Texas 165 years ago, 12 families
from Missouri traveled in oxen-drawn wagons to the Eastern Cross
Timbers. These families laid claim to land in Peters Colony that was
promised by the Republic of Texas's first empresario. The hardscrabble
colonists built log cabins and the Lonesome Dove Church, the first
church in Tarrant County. Their village came to be called Dove. Later
settlements included White's Chapel, Old Union, and Jellico. The
Depression hit local farmers and cattlemen hard, and newspaper accounts
tell of small-time outlaws passing through, including members of the
infamous Bonnie and Clyde gang who shot and killed two state troopers
near Texas Highway 114. In 1956, a handful of neighbors voted to
incorporate, and the town of Southlake was born. A decade later, city
leaders from nearby Dallas and Fort Worth agreed to the construction of
a regional airport east of Southlake, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport
brought many families and prosperity to an area that flourishes today.