In the early settlement of northwestern Dallas County, the nearby creek was known as Mustang Branch, likely named either for Mustang horses that frequented the area or for Mustang grapes that grew there. The stream became a focal point for some members of the Peters Colony, and in 1841 Thomas Keenan built a cabin on the creek. Within a few years more settlers arrived, drawn by fertile soil and an available water supply, and their community came to be known as Farmers Branch. In 1845 the Rev. William Bowles, a Baptist minister, began a blacksmith shop and gristmill, and that same year I.B. Webb donated land for a church and school. Webb also served as first postmaster when the Farmers Branch post office was established in 1848. By the end of the decade, cotton and wheat had become very productive crops on local farms. The stream's name later became commonly known as Farmers Branch, and the early settlers near this tributary left a rich heritage that grew into today's major Dallas County commercial center.