FRISCO, Texas — The growth in Frisco is no secret.
The population boomed after the turn of the millennium, luring corporate headquarters, the Dallas Cowboys and newly revealed plans of a Universal Studios theme park.
But nearly 50 years earlier, the bright future nearly dried up before it had a chance to happen.
In 1976, the City of Frisco and its few thousand residents did not have access to water. Despite sitting on Lake Lewisville, the city got its water supply from the ground and five wells.
The larger cities of Dallas and Denton had the rights to the lake water, leaving the budding community of Frisco squeezed out and in danger of being left high and dry.
A WFAA story archived in the SMU Jones Film Library interviewed Frisco’s longest-serving mayor Harold Bacchus about the shortage that threatened the future.
“We are going to be controlled by whoever owns the water,” said Bacchus. “If they have no water, they cannot live here.”
The story estimated Frisco’s population would hit 65,000 by 1985.
As it turned out, the growth happened slower. According to U.S. Census data, Frisco’s population did not hit that level until after the year 2000. The city took a big step in 2001 when they joined the North Texas Municipal Water District, helping secure the water that allowed for exponential growth and a population of 200,000-plus today.
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