Lebanon, Texas facts for kids

Lebanon was the name of two different places in Texas that started in the 1800s. Today, neither of them exist as towns. One was a town in Collin County. It even had its own post office. Later, this town moved and became part of Frisco. The other Lebanon was a smaller community in Live Oak County. Only a cemetery is left there now.

The Town of Lebanon in Collin County

How Lebanon Started

In the 1840s, many pioneers settled near Dallas. They traveled by wagon trains on a path called the Shawnee Trail. This trail was also used to move cattle north from Austin. It later became known as the Preston Trail, and then Preston Road.

The town of Lebanon was founded along this busy trail. Settlers chose this spot because of the trail and the good farmland. People say it was named after a settler's hometown, Lebanon, Tennessee.

Growing and Moving On

Lebanon got its own U.S. post office in 1860. By the 1880s, it was a busy place. It had a church, a school, and a cotton gin. A cotton gin is a machine that quickly separates cotton fibers from their seeds. There was also a flour mill, a blacksmith, and many other shops.

In the late 1890s, the people of Lebanon hoped a new railroad would come through their town. But the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway chose a path two miles west instead. The railroad also started a new town along its route. This new town, called Emerson, was created in 1902. It was three miles northwest of Lebanon.

Emerson soon renamed itself Frisco, after the railroad. Most people and businesses in Lebanon decided to move. They packed up and relocated to the new town of Frisco. In 1905, Lebanon's post office closed down.

What Happened to Old Lebanon?

Lebanon was no longer a town, but it remained a farming community. It still had about a dozen houses, a school, and a church. The school closed in 1947. By the year 2000, only the church and a few houses were left from the original town.

In 2003, the Lebanon Baptist Church closed its doors. It had been there for 120 years. The church building standing at that time was built in 1904. The original 1883 church was destroyed by a storm.

By this time, the growing city of Frisco had taken over the old town site. Preston Road, now a state highway, was being made wider. To save the church from being torn down, it was given to the City of Frisco. The building was moved to the Frisco Heritage Center. It is now part of a museum and is also used for weddings. Around the same time, the last house from old Lebanon, built in 1895, was also moved to the Frisco Heritage Center.

Lebanon's Legacy in Frisco

The old town of Lebanon was located near where Preston Road and John Hickman Parkway meet in Frisco, Texas. The Lebanon Baptist Church was originally near Preston Road and Lebanon Road.

You can still see reminders of old Lebanon in Frisco today. The City of Frisco named Lebanon Road to honor the town. The Masonic Lodge in downtown Frisco is called the Lebanon Masonic Lodge. Also, the Frisco Independent School District named its ninth high school Lebanon Trail High School. This school is less than a mile from where the old town used to be. Inside the school, the main hall floor says, "Lebanon, Texas founded in 1860."

The Community of Lebanon in Live Oak County

The other community named Lebanon was in Live Oak County. It was on a dirt road about a mile north of Farm to Market Road 1203. It was also twelve miles southeast of Three Rivers.

A school was built there in the 1880s. In the 1890s, a Methodist church group started meeting in the schoolhouse. Many religious gatherings, called revivals, were held in Lebanon during the 1890s. Sometimes, as many as 600 people came from nearby communities.

Around 1920, the church building was moved to Cadiz, a nearby town. By 1940, Lebanon's Methodist group had stopped meeting. A map from the late 1930s shows that only a graveyard was left at the site.