[8] The traditional custodians of the lands on which Frankston is situated are the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation, to which it was an important source of fish and meeting place of the Mayone-bulluk clan for around 40,000 years.

One of the earliest of these theories (published in the Victorian Historical Magazine in March 1916) is that it was named after one of its early European settlers, Frank Liardet,[3][16] who also became one of its first official land owners.

[3] The theory is strengthened by the fact that a number of places near Frankston also have names that are derived or adapted from those of British army generals and statesmen (such as Cranbourne, Hastings, Lyndhurst, Mornington and Pakenham).

[3] Prior to the foundation of Melbourne by Europeans in 1835, the area surrounding Port Phillip was originally populated by Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation for an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years.

[9] For the Mayone-bulluk clan; Kananook and Sweetwater creeks and the former swamps and wetlands of the Frankston area were rich sources of fish and eel as well as summer fruit and vegetables.

[39] Bunurong territory, of which Frankston is a part, stretches from the Werribee River in the western metropolitan area of Melbourne east to Wilsons Promontory in Gippsland and was referred to as marr-ne-beek ("excellent country") amongst the Kulin nation tribes.

[42] Another possible encounter of the Mayone-bulluk clan with Europeans in 1803 was in late-December, with three convicts that had escaped from the failed settlement by Captain David Collins at Sorrento on the southern Mornington Peninsula.

[3] Living in tents and wattle and daub huts on its foreshore and around the base of Olivers Hill, they would travel by boat to the early Melbourne township to sell their catches.

[3] The explorer and surveyor Charles Wedge also arrived around this time, gaining a pre-emptive right to land license over what are now the City of Frankston suburbs of Carrum Downs and Seaford.

[53] Licensing records (and newspaper articles) suggest that it was located on what is now the northwest corner of Davey Street and Nepean Highway (the present site of the Pier Hotel).

[47] In 1870, Ritchie established his first general store on what is now the southwest corner of Playne Street and Nepean Highway in the Frankston Central Business District (CBD).

[80][81] Due to concerns from undertakers about sandy soil and underlying granite at the Frankston site,[72][84] the proposed cemetery was abandoned—which was later established in the Melbourne southeastern suburb of Springvale in 1901.

The travel time to the Melbourne city centre was reduced from several hours by horse-drawn carriage to 90 minutes by steam train, making it a popular seaside destination for excursionists and weekend holidaymakers from the mid-1880s.

[96] Frankston Brick Company was founded in 1886,[97] by a consortium of local businessmen including William Davey Jr. and Thomas Ritchie—most likely in order to capitalise on the Melbourne land boom during the mid-1880s—and was later publicly floated.

[62][105] New north and south transepts, a chancel, sanctuary, vestries, and a chapel of St. Richard, were all added in a sympathetic Gothic Revival style by its original architect Louis Williams.

[171] A flexible 194-seat theatre named Cube37 with studios and a wet workshop was also built adjoining the northeast corner of the centre in 2001, and was opened on 30 March by then Prime Minister of Australia the Hon.

[195] Fluctuating ice ages of the Pleistocene epoch in the current Quaternary period caused sea levels to rise and fall dramatically and for sedimentary rock and sand to be deposited on the surface of the hill.

[203] A landslip once occurred in the 1960s during a live radio show hosted by media personality Graham Kennedy from his house on Olivers Hill, where he and his co-host Mike Walsh described how his driveway was "slipping down the slope", as they spoke on air.

[212] It produces a 4 cm red and creamy-yellow flower, with five sepals, that exudes a scent which mimics the pheromones of the Thynnid wasp female in order to attract males to pollinate it.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community has a mosque in Langwarrin;[243] the Brahma Kumaris have a centre for spiritual retreat in Frankston South;[244] the Serbian Orthodox Church has its parish of St. Stefan Decanski in Carrum Downs;[245] the Hindu community has its Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs, which is also the largest in Victoria;[246] and the Oriental Orthodox Church has its Jacobite Syrian parish of St. Mary in Frankston North.

[261][262] Two hospitals, numerous health care providers, two regional shopping centres, a hard goods retail park, a university campus, a large TAFE institute as well as various secondary and primary schools are all located within the suburb and are a significant source of employment.

[2] It is also under consideration to be redefined as a "national employment cluster" for its industry strengths in health care and education, as well as for being both an economic hub and a tourism destination within the greater Mornington Peninsula region.

It has a variety of boutiques, independent retailers, cafés and food outlets and used to feature a farmers' market on every Thursday morning on an adjacent street, which doesn't run anymore.

[162][163] It is set in 16 hectares of formal park and natural reserve with a permanent collection of over 100 large-scale sculptures by artists such as Peter Corlett, Inge King, Clement Meadmore, Lenton Parr and Norma Redpath.

[327] The festival includes: carnival rides, community activities and exhibitions, food stalls, live carols and music, parades and a Santa Claus procession.

According to Australian government data collected from the former Medicare Local system; between 2011 and 2012, 84% of residents in the combined City of Frankston and Shire of Mornington Peninsula catchment area rated their health as being either "good" or higher.

First during World War I, when a military hospital was established in the City of Frankston suburb of Langwarrin in order to treat Australian soldiers returning with venereal disease from Egypt and France.

[353] It includes the Peninsula Health and Fitness Centre;[354] an exercise physiology lab as well as a movement and performance studio; and is associated with the physical education, occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs of the university.

[251] Research from the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) also identified that properties in the catchment area of the school sell for 16.9% more than others in Frankston compared with 4% more in Balwyn North.

[369] The A$759 million PeninsulaLink freeway, which opened in 2013, connects with EastLink at the City of Frankston suburb of Seaford in the north and ends at the Shire of Mornington Peninsula town of Mount Martha in the south.