Lemuel J. Edwards moved his family to Texas from Missouri in 1846, settling along the Clear Fork of the Trinity River determined to carve a homestead from the boundless and untried rough frontier. Growing through the years to span more than 7,000 acres, the Edwards Ranch today represents one of the most exciting and innovative mixed-use developments in Fort Worth.

The newly annexed state of Texas provided Edwards with a 640 acre land grant in 1848. The following year, the U.S. military established a post on the site of the modern-day city of Fort Worth.

The Edwards family welcomed its third son, Casswell Overton Edwards I, to the family in 1851. Cass I ultimately carried the Edwards family legacy into the 20th century as the family cattle and farming business grew and prospered.

Around 1869, Lemuel and his wife, Elizabeth, divided their land among their remaining children – the elder sons, Thomas and Richard, died during the Civil War. At that time, the Edwards property stretched from present day 7th Street near downtown Fort Worth, southwest along the Clear Fork Valley and on toward the present-day city of Benbrook. (Parcels of the land sold off over the years developed into Mistletoe Heights, Trinity Park, Colonial Country Club, the Fort Worth Zoo, Cityview and Hulen Mall.) Lemuel’s death later the same year left the operation of the family cattle and farming business to Cass and his mother.