It was named after Bishop Christopher Frank who established a nearby Mormon settlement known as Frankburg.

In the early days, hunted waterfowl was shipped by the railway carload to the United States.

Severe flooding in 1952 prompted Ducks Unlimited to construct a drainage ditch.

During World War II an area in the middle of the dry lake bed was used as a relief landing field for RCAF Station High River[2] Frank Lake is located in the foothills fescue prairie ecoregion.

The lake is a hemi-marsh, which means it roughly has the same area of open water as there is emergent vegetation.

Some birds that can be seen here include: tundra swan, trumpeter swan, Canada goose, northern pintail, Franklin's gull, ring-billed gull, California gull, common tern, short-eared owl, eared grebe, marbled godwit, long-billed dowitcher, long-billed curlew, white-faced ibis, black-crowned night-heron, and black-necked stilt.

Measures include the building of dikes and water control structures as well as the building of a pipeline from High River to channel treated effluent from the town of High River and a local food processing plant.