During its brief existence, the Congress of the Republic of Texas sought to prepare for growing settlement by establishing the Central National Road to connect the Red River with existing military roads along the Trinity River and points farther west, opening much of northeast Texas to settlement and commerce. On February 5, 1844, Congress created a five-man commission to supervise surveying and construction, and members including John Yeary received land for their work. Yeary chose property in present Collin County and founded a settlement that grew into Farmersville. The commissioners selected George Stell of Paris, Texas, as surveyor, and in April 1844 he began work from a point now within the city of Dallas. He and his assistant traveled northeast, measuring and marking a route through the present counties of Dallas, Rockwall, Collin, Hunt, Fannin, Lamar, and Red River, though only three had been formally organized at the time. The route used existing prairies and natural stream crossings while avoiding densely wooded areas, and it ended at the Kiomatia Crossing of the Red River near present Jonesborough in Red River County. Although records are unclear about whether construction was ever completed, the road was short-lived and was soon replaced by Preston Road and other early routes, and later by rail lines, but it helped open northeast Texas to increased growth and development and, through Yeary's association with it and his Collin County settlement, directly affected the area's early population growth.