24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Joshua, TX

Joshua is a city in Johnson County in the Cross Timbers region of North Texas, south of Fort Worth.

The land under Joshua was patented by W. W. Byers in 1867 and sold to John Powell in 1874, and the area's first community was nearby Caddo Grove.

When the railroad built through the area but missed Caddo Grove, a new town grew up around the station - the railroad's first proposed name, Caddo Peak, was rejected by the post office.

The name Joshua, said to have been suggested by Dr. D. B. McMillan after the biblical Joshua, was chosen instead; the town plat was surveyed in 1880 and the community was organized in 1881 when the railroad arrived.

Joshua's first store and post office opened in 1882, with W. L. West serving as the first postmaster.

By 1890 Joshua had 300 residents, two steam-powered corn mills and cotton gins, a hotel, a general store, and its own newspaper, the Johnson County Record.

Joshua's first one-room school opened in 1890, moved into a new building in 1899, and became Joshua High School in 1917.

Major fires swept through Joshua in 1900 and again in 1912, destroying much of the young town, but residents rebuilt after each blaze.

Joshua did not incorporate until the mid-1950s, when Ted Strube became its first mayor.

Joshua's population was 7,891 at the 2020 census, up from 5,910 in 2010, and the Census Bureau estimated it had grown to 9,352 by July 2025 as development spills south from Fort Worth.