Attracted by fertile land and abundant water and game, pioneers began settling at this site near the edge of the Crosstimber region in the late 1840s. The village, first known as Pilot's Point, took its name from a high point of timber that served travelers as a landmark. Near an early immigrant trail, Pilot Point was also a stop on the Butterfield Stage Route. A townsite was platted in 1854 on land originally granted to Charles Smith. Dr. R. W. Eddleman of Missouri came here to begin a medical practice and open a drugstore, James D. Walcott ran the earliest general store and became the first postmaster in 1855, and Alphius Knight, a settler from New York, built and conducted the town's first school. Founded by three local residents in 1872, Pilot Point Seminary was later renamed Franklin College and operated here for almost 30 years. The town's first newspaper appeared in 1878 and a bank opened in 1884. As a marketing center for farmers and stockraisers, Pilot Point had a grist mill and a cotton gin, and the arrival of the Texas & Pacific and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads boosted the local economy in the 1880s. Agriculture and light industry formed the base of the town's economy in the 1970s.