In 1845, the Postmaster General was directed to establish Star Stage Routes to deliver mail by stagecoach to small towns in Texas that were not located on a main railroad line from 1850 to early 1880's. Postal records show that from 1854 to 1859, a Star Stagecoach route was commissioned to follow mostly what is now Roanoke Road, apparently coming straight over the top of the hill and down through what is now Stagecoach Hills in Westlake. The route ran weekly from Alton to Birdville, county seats later replaced by Denton and Ft. Worth, to a stop south of here named Plascido. In this area, stagecoaches were pulled by mules because roads were unimproved and better navigated by them, and mules were less desired by the Indians. Travel during this time was dangerous, with bandits or hostile Indians often stealing horses and supplies, stagecoach stations burned, and sometimes drivers, guards, and passengers killed. Stagecoach Hills was named after this Star Stage route and was developed by Harold Thornton in 1971, when he owned the family property.