Pilot Point was platted on Christmas Day in 1853. G.W. Newcome was the surveyor, from Kentucky Town, Grayson County, Texas. The streets were laid out and lots were sold. One of the first buildings in the newly founded town was on the north side, a log building, home to the Star Drug Store operated by Dr. R.W. Eddleman and Alexander Cook, who came by covered wagon in 1852 from Missouri. Dr. Eddleman's brother-in-law, Major James Walcott, also built a general store on the northeast corner of the new town square. The town got its name from being the highest point in the area, thus an observation point for crossing the Trinity River. The wagon pilots nicknamed it "the Pilot's Point" long before the town existed.