Although evidence of habitation by humans goes back around 10,000 years, written evidence is more recent. The Ndebele came through the area in the 1830s on their way to Bulawayo, bringing their culture and influence to the Kalanga area of north-eastern Botswana. Reportedly, Nyangabgwe was the nearest village to Francistown to have been visited by Europeans, when it was visited by Robert Moffat. Moffat was followed in 1867 by a gold prospector, Karl Mauch who found Bakalanga mining gold along the Tati River.
The present town was founded in 1897,by bakalanga as a settlement near the Monarch mine and named after Daniel Francis, an English prospector who acquired prospecting licenses in the region in 1869. Francis was a director of the Tati Concessions Company, who stole all the land in the settlement. The center of the new town was formed when the company sold off 300 lots in August of that year. The Monarch mine was not the only mine in operation at that time, and it was widely believed that Francistown would grow rapidly.
In the beginning, the town comprised one street east of, and parallel to the railway line. This street featured a several companies, including a hotel, retail and wholesale shops and three banks. Behind these were the houses of the few white settlers. Segregated areas were made for mixed race and black people in the satellite township and between the railway and the river respectively. Today this very street, Tainton Avenue, still carries the white origins on its back.
After Botswana gained its independence in 1966, Francistown was no longer segregated.
In 1997 the town became a city, being the second largest city in Botswana
