In 1842, Thomas Keenan, Isaac B. Webb, and William Cochran received original land grants in the area.

Mr. Cochran later changed the name to Farmers Branch to reflect the area's rich soil and farmland.

This made the community one of the best-known places in Dallas County during the 1840s because of its advertising throughout Europe and the United States.

[11] To assure that railroads would eventually pass through Farmers Branch, prominent early settler Samuel Gilbert and others sold right-of-way through their land in 1874.

The rapid growth of the city during the 1950s was made apparent in the 1960 census, which recorded a total of 13,441 residents, a 1,369% increase over the 1950 figure.

Its Dallas North Tollway segment is part of the Platinum Corridor, and its land along Interstate 635 is an extension of the lengthy Irving Prairie office park.

Celanese Corporation, Eyemart Express, I2 Technologies, OxyChem, and Varsity Brands have their headquarters in Farmers Branch.

[17][18] Excellence Health Inc. has an office in Farmers Branch that covers the Dallas life sciences cluster.

North Central Texas Council of Governments 2018 estimated total employment for the City of Farmers Branch is 78,393.

Farmers Branch is a voluntary member of the North Central Texas Council of Governments association, the purpose of which is to co-ordinate individual and collective local governments and facilitate regional solutions, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and enable joint decisions.

[52] Its current name is a reference to the Chapel Hill community; it was renamed since the former namesake, Mayor of Dallas William Lewis Cabell, served in the Confederate States of America.

[55][56] Mayor Tim O'Hare proposed making a new municipal Farmers Branch school district with the portions currently in CFBISD and DISD.

[62] Farmers Branch was one of fifteen cities to approve services of Dallas Area Rapid Transit in 1983 by levying a 1 cent sales tax.

On December 6, 2010, the city received light rail transit service with a station near the northeast corner of Interstates 635 and 35E on the Green Line, which runs from Pleasant Grove in southeast Dallas through downtown Dallas following I-35E up to Carrollton at Frankford Road.

Farmers Branch maintains a sister city relationship with Bassetlaw, United Kingdom, and Garbsen, Germany.