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Denton Texas
Bird's Eye View, 1883 Map
Click on image to enlarge
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons |
Historical
Marker:
The City of
Denton
Pioneers settled
this locality in the 1840's. In 1846 the Texas Legislature created
Denton county
-- one of several carved from the Peters Colony grant. After trying
other sites, the voters in 1856 accepted for county seat this tract
donated by Hiram Cisco, William Loving, and William Woodruff. The
city and county were named for John B. Denton (1806-41), a minister
killed while defending frontier settlers.
Woodruff, fellow surveyor C. C. Lacy, and attorney Otis Welch platted
the townsite. In 1857 city lots were auctioned, the post office opened,
and a church was founded. J. M. Blount, Joseph A. Carroll, W. F. Egan,
and I. D. Ferguson were pioneer leaders. A cotton gin and plants for
making bricks, corn meal, flour and ice soon developed. The "Monitor,"
a newspaper, began its career in 1868. Sam Bass (1851-78), legendary
western outlaw, trained and raced "The Denton Mare" while living and
working as a local farm hand.
North Texas State University originated here as Texas Normal College
in 1890, and Texas Woman's University opened in 1903 as the College
of Industrial Arts. Agriculture-related businesses, education, and
small factories sustain the economy. The city grew from 1,194 in its
first census (1880) to 39,874 by 1970.
History in a Pecan Shell
County and town were named after preacher and Indian fighter John
B. Denton who was killed in 1841 at the Battle of Village Creek.
1857: the town
was founded
1864: the first
newspaper - The Denton Review is published
1866: town
is incorporated
1881: both
the Texas and Pacific and MKT railroads enter Denton
1884: first
public school is opened
1890: North
Texas Normal College opens - later becomes the University of North
Texas
1903: Texas
Women's University started life as The Girl's Industrial College
Today the two universities make up half of the town's population.
1960: The Denton
State School opens
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Denton, Texas
Attractions/Landmarks
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Denton Town
Square
by Sam
Fenstermacher
The Denton Texas town square is quite true to its historic heritage.
There's the 1896 W.C.
Dodson designed courthouse. It's arguably one of the grandest
Golden Era courthouses in the state of Texas. The buildings that surround
the courthouse are mostly of the same vintage as the courthouse. The
square has plenty of antique shops and restaurants and all the other
boutique-style shops you may have come to expect on a historic town
square.
What sets this town square apart is how alive it is, and how it's
faithful to the historical traditions of town squares. Unlike so many
other old town squares in Texas, Denton's downtown is a lively place.
Because there are residential neighborhoods close by, and probably
also because the University of North Texas campus is just down the
road, real live locals frequent the square. The courthouse lawn is
a gathering place. Folks come to meet and hang out. Musicians frequently
gather and play. On top of all this, the courthouse is open to the
public, not only during the week -- but on Saturday as well. See,
this is the history of the courthouse square. In old days, it was
used as a public gathering place. People came to town to shop, and
to see their neighbors, and to relax in the shade on the courthouse
lawn while children played and street merchants peddled their wares.
© 2005 by Sam
Fenstermacher All rights reserved |
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Denton Chronicles
The
Great Airship Mystery by C. F. Eckhardt
On April 13, 1897, in Denton, a man ‘stargazing’ with a pair of
powerful field glasses spotted a dark object against the moon. At
first he assumed it was a meteor that had not yet hit earth’s atmosphere,
but then realized it was moving much too slowly. He described the
object as being about fifty feet long, cigar-shaped with two large
‘mugs’ sticking out from either side, a ‘beak’ like a ship’s cutwater
at the front, and a large rudder or steering sail at the rear. Where
the ‘beak’ joined the main body of the object there was a light
that ‘paled the moon’ in its brilliance. Along the body of the thing
there were more lights, which he assumed meant windows. No smoke
was visible from the object. It moved slowly, in a southeasterly
direction, for about twenty minutes, then accelerated ‘to terrific
speed’ and vanished from sight. The sighting was confirmed by a
lady in Denton...
The December
1913 Flood in Denton
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Denton, Texas
Forum
This is a fantastic
website and am thrilled to find it. Will share it with friends and
others, however, you have left out one of the best "visits" one
can make during your visit to Denton.
The Denton County Historical Museum Inc (established in 1979
in courthouse) moved in 1998 to the Denton Factory Mall on I35 North
exit 470. This museum is the one which created and published the
two brochures you mentioned about the Historical Markers and Cemeteries
of Denton County. This museum sold the name Courthouse on the Square
Museum to Denton County which the county now uses for its "county
department" created after the Denton County Historical Museum left
the courthouse taking its collection of history, 50,000 photographs
of 1950s, historical family history files including photographs
1800s forward, Denton County genealogy, wonderful local history
library, exhibits and knowledgeable staff with it. Hunt Oil company
provides the space for the Denton County Historical Museum. The
gift shop has local items and books for sale. Housed in the same
open Mall is a 350 dealer antique mall and other shops to round
out the visit. The North Texas Area Model Railroad Club has a display
in one of the areas and is manned each Saturday from 10:00 am to
6:00 pm The Denton County Historical Museum Inc furnishes maps,
family history information and has a massive cemetery card file
with additional notes which is one of a kind. This museum is noted
for its county and regional history and its employees and volunteers
who go the extra mile to help visitors. The tel number is 940 380
0877 I am among the long time and strong supporters of the museum.
- GG, March 14, 2002
Texas Womans University houses the DAR Museum of Texas Governor's
wives' inaugural gowns. They are displayed publicly with free parking
and no fee to see. The local DAR chapter gives tours etc.
*The brochures you mentioned
about the Cemeteries and the Historical Markers were done by the
staff of the Denton County Historical Museum, Inc and their old
information is on the brochures. The Senior Citizen Volunteers operate
this wonderful facilities. Thanks. - GG, March 14, 2002
Denton Chamber of Commerce
414 Parkway
1-888-381-1818
www.denton-chamber.org
The chamber of commerce stocks two pamphlets by the Denton County
Historical Museum worth stopping for. One is Historical Markers
in Denton County and the other is A Guide to Denton County Cemeteries.*
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
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