The early settlers of Culleoka named the community for their hometown in Tennessee. It was established in the latter part of the 1880s after a general store was built in 1887. Twenty people were living there in 1892, and by 1900 a mill and cotton gin were running there. There was a post office at Culleoka from 1893 to 1906, catering to an estimated fifty residents. Following 1906, the community's mail was delivered to McKinney. The population of Culleoka increased to 150 during the ensuing several decades, and it stayed there until the late 1940s. The village had four churches and three or four businesses in the 1930s. The area had a downturn in the late 1940s, partly because of the expansion of Plano nearby and the disturbance brought about by the construction of Lavon Dam in 1954, which created a sizable reservoir. In 1990, the community continued to exist.[2]