The History of Lewisville, Texas
Lewisville has a quieter story than its flashier neighbors, with two surprises in it: a cotton-gin town that became a lake town, and a single weekend in 1969 when a hundred thousand people showed up for a rock festival on the prairie. Mostly it's the tale of a farming community that the Trinity River — dammed into a big lake — and Dallas's sprawl turned into a suburb.
Holford Prairie to Lewisville (1840s–1920s)
The land was first known as Holford Prairie, and settlement dates to around 1840. In 1853 a man named Basdeal W. Lewis bought up local properties, established a post office, and gave the growing community his name. It became solid farm country — a gristmill went up in 1862, and by 1867 the first cotton gin in Denton County was operating here. Growth was slow and agricultural; by the time Lewisville held its incorporation election in 1925, it was a town of around 850 people served, tellingly, by five cotton gins and a couple of saloons.
The Lake Changes the Land (1927–1955)
Water reshaped everything. The Elm Fork of the Trinity was dammed in 1927, first creating what was called Lake Dallas. The federal government expanded the project in the late 1940s and 1950s, building the larger Lewisville Dam and renaming the reservoir Lewisville Lake. Suddenly the farm town sat on the shore of one of the bigger lakes in North Texas, which set up its future: recreation, waterfront, and the kind of amenity that draws suburban growth once a metro comes looking for room.
The Pop Festival and the Suburb (1969–Today)
Lewisville's strangest chapter came over Labor Day weekend in 1969, when the Texas International Pop Festival was held near town — a three-day event with Janis Joplin, B.B. King, and a lineup of era-defining acts that drew an estimated 120,000 people to the prairie. It was Texas's answer to Woodstock, and then it was over, and Lewisville went back to being Lewisville. As Dallas expanded north up I-35E, the old cotton town filled in as a lakeside suburb, keeping a restored old-town district while the subdivisions and shopping centers spread around the water.
Timeline
1853
Basdeal W. Lewis buys local properties and establishes the community as Lewisville.
1867
The first cotton gin in Denton County begins operating in Lewisville.
1925
Lewisville incorporates as a town of about 850 people.
1955
The Lewisville Dam project enlarges the reservoir, renamed Lewisville Lake.
1969
The Texas International Pop Festival draws an estimated 120,000 people near Lewisville.
Notable People
Basdeal W. Lewis
The settler who bought the Holford Prairie properties in 1853, established the post office, and gave Lewisville its name.
FAQ: History of Lewisville
The town was named for Basdeal W. Lewis, who bought up the local Holford Prairie properties and established a post office there in 1853.
It was a three-day rock festival held near Lewisville over Labor Day weekend in 1969 — Texas's counterpart to Woodstock — featuring Janis Joplin, B.B. King, and other major acts, and drawing an estimated 120,000 attendees.
The reservoir began as Lake Dallas when the Elm Fork of the Trinity was first dammed in 1927. It was enlarged by the federal Lewisville Dam project in the 1940s and 1950s and renamed Lewisville Lake.
Settlement of the Holford Prairie area dates to around 1840, and the community took the name Lewisville in 1853. It incorporated as a town in 1925 and later grew into a lakeside suburb of Dallas.
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