From 1894 until October 1927, the Denton City Hall was housed in an 1877 red brick building located at the corner of Oak and Bolivar streets. The rapid growth of Denton in the early 20th century called for a newer and more spacious building. In . . . — — Map (db m171697) HM
Samuel A. Bayless and his wife, Mary, came to Denton from Monroe County, Tennessee. In 1884, he purchased a two-room farmhouse, the one-story part of the museum. Later, they built a two story Victorian Queen Anne-style addition. Samuel died in . . . — — Map (db m178758) HM
Beulah A. Harriss (1889-1977) moved to Denton in 1914 from Nebraska to become the first women’s physical education teacher at North Texas State Normal College, now University of North Texas (UNT). With a degree from the University of Nebraska in . . . — — Map (db m92193) HM
The Campus Theatre was built in 1949 by
Interstate Theatres and served as one of three
cinemas owned by the company in Denton
until its final use as a cinematic theater in
1985. Original manager J.P. Harrison was well-
known for both his . . . — — Map (db m220241) HM
Born to pioneers in 1859, James "Jim" Russell Christal was raised by his mother after age three when his father mysteriously died on a hunting trip at age 12. Jim started as a horse wrangler and eventually was hired as a cowboy on his cousin Burk . . . — — Map (db m146540) HM
As early as 1872 Baptists in the Cooper Creek Community met for church in a building located close to the current structure. In 1916, L.F. "Tom" Collins donated land to the church to build a new sanctuary, which was completed the following year. . . . — — Map (db m184581) HM
This burial ground is one of the last remaining remnants of a small rural community that dates back to before the Civil War. Settlers, including the Farris and Skaggs families, came to northeast Denton County in the 1860s. Like many rural areas, . . . — — Map (db m184545) HM
Although the Cooper Creek community was formally established in 1872, families began to settle the area before the Civil War. A land deed from that period set aside a portion of this property for the creation of a church, cemetery, and a school. . . . — — Map (db m184580) HM
County Line Road Bridge was installed in 1940 over Denton Creek on the Denton-Wise county line to give a number of communities access to the newly improved and gravel-paved section of Texas Highway 24, now US 380, between Denton and Decatur. The . . . — — Map (db m178648) HM
Created April 11, 1846
from Fannin County
Organized July 13, 1846
with Denton as county seat
Both town and county are
named in honor of
John B. Denton
1807-1841
Pioneer preacher, lawyer
and Indian fighter
First county seat . . . — — Map (db m121786) HM
Built 1896-97. Fifth courthouse for Denton County. First was at Alton, second at Pinckneyville. Third (in Denton) was burned in crime charged to a member of the Sam Bass Gang of outlaws.
Walls are native limestone; columns, Burnet County . . . — — Map (db m121787) HM
Denton County proudly honors all those who have given for their nation in a time of war serving in The Spanish-American War • World War I • World War II • The Korean War • The Vietnam War • The Persian Gulf War — — Map (db m108516) WM
The first free city of Denton school opened in 1884. After the building burned in 1908, another school was built at the same site. When John B. Denton College closed in 1912, high school students were moved to the former college building, which . . . — — Map (db m154224) HM
This 1903 bridge crossed South Hickory Creek at Donald Road in northwest Denton County. Possibly manufactured by the George E. King Bridge Co., this 59-foot modified single-panel Warren truss steel bridge is a fine example of surviving pony truss . . . — — Map (db m178872) HM
Edna Westbrook Trigg (1868-1946) was the first county home demonstration agent appointed in Texas in 1915, serving in Denton County from February 1916 through December 1937. She was named Denton County home demonstration emeritus from January 1, . . . — — Map (db m121785) HM
Located on a prominent hilltop and street, in a neighborhood known as Silk Stocking Row, this house was built for Robert Henry Evers (1859-1936) and Mary Euphemia (Taylor) Evers (1861-1941). They married in Texarkana in 1882 and lived in Paris, . . . — — Map (db m203496) HM
Twelve men and women met in 1858 in the log cabin Denton County Courthouse to organize the Union Baptist Church. In its first decade, the church doubled its membership. By 1876 the congregation had been renamed the Denton Baptist Church. About . . . — — Map (db m178706) HM
This congregation, established in 1868 and led by Elder Terrell Jasper, initially met in the local Masonic Hall until a frame church building was erected in 1876. A state charter was issued to First Christian Church of Denton in 1902. By 1904 a . . . — — Map (db m178709) HM
The Rev. William E. Bates organized the First Methodist Church of Denton in 1857, the same year the town of Denton was formed. Services were conducted in the log courthouse until the Masonic lodge of Denton constructed a 2-story building in 1859. . . . — — Map (db m178761) HM
On this site in 1891, the city of Denton erected a building to be leased to President Joshua C. Chilton, for the use of the privately owned Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute, which he had opened the year before in a business . . . — — Map (db m178742) HM
Built c. 1923, this one-lane bridge crossed Duck Creek at Gregory Road serving Gregory, Lois, Pollard and Hoehn Roads in northern Denton County, south of Cooke County line. This 52-foot-long steel bridge is a three-panel Warren pony truss. It may . . . — — Map (db m178875) HM
Built in 1912-13 to serve as a library and gymnasium, this is the oldest remaining building on the North Texas campus. It became known as the Historical Building in 1925, when history professor Joseph Lyman Kingsbury (1880-1949) began a museum . . . — — Map (db m178743) HM
Denton Lodge No. 82 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) was chartered in 1859 by a number of the area's most prominent settlers, including John S. Chisum of the Chisum Trail fame. That year I.O.O.F. charter member and Denton . . . — — Map (db m178650) HM
This church began as a mission of the Dallas Diocese about 1890; the Rev. F. X. Meilinger served as mission priest. The congregation held services on the second floor of a local barn until a church building was erected in 1893-94. A Catholic . . . — — Map (db m178649) HM
James Newton Rayzor was born December 10, 1858 in Lockport, Kentucky. He immigrated to Texas in the fall of 1866 with his family and settled in Collin County. In 1871, the family moved to Cooke County where Rayzor later taught school at Prairie . . . — — Map (db m178608) HM
Born in Tennessee July 26, 1806, came to Texas in January, 1836, as a Methodist circuit rider. Killed in the Village Creek Indian fight May 24, 1841 in what is now Tarrant County. Named for Gen. Edward H. Tarrant who commanded the volunteers. Denton . . . — — Map (db m121788) HM
The Lipscomb-Doggett House was built by Dr. Priestly Lipscomb (1869-1942) and wife, Molly Binyon (1871-1942). The couple contracted the one-story frame house from J.C. Thornton in 1895. Built on bustling West Oak Street, the Victorian Folk cottage . . . — — Map (db m178751) HM
This prominent residence was built in 1925-27 at a cost of $30,000 for Dr. M.L. Martin (1869-1941) and his wife, Ailsey (Forester) Martin (1890-1968). Ailsey grew up on the nearby Forester Ranch (established 1852) and received one-third of the . . . — — Map (db m178558) HM
Robert Noble Mounts (1863-1922) and Nannie Lee (Christal) Mounts (1870-1942) built this home in 1898. The Mounts family came to Denton County in the 1850s from Virginia. In 1857, Robert Mounts’ father, W.H. Mounts, relocated his mercantile . . . — — Map (db m178442) HM
The first recorded fair in the Denton area opened on October 15, 1885 as the Denton County Blooded Stock and Fair. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, area fairs continued to recognize local livestock and agricultural competitors. The North . . . — — Map (db m171716) HM
This cemetery was established soon after Denton was settled as the new seat of government for Denton County in 1857. Land for the community burial ground was donated by pioneer settler Hiram Cisco, who had earlier conveyed property for the . . . — — Map (db m178864) HM
With burials dating to 1852, this graveyard is associated with some of the earliest settlement in Denton County. In that year, Rebecca Daugherty, daughter of one of the pioneer families, died and was buried on family property. Over time, burials . . . — — Map (db m148685) HM
In the mid-20th century, a North Texas native became a leading architect of the American Southwest. O’Neil Ford was born in Pink Hill and went to school in Sherman (both Grayson Co.), where the arts and crafts curriculum inspired his entire . . . — — Map (db m170345) HM
(left column)
Erected by Daughters of the Confederacy in memory of our Confederate soldiers, who in heroic self-sacrifice and devoted loyalty gave their manhood and their lives to the South in her hour of need.
(right column) . . . — — Map (db m108519) WM
In the early 1880s, Quakertown emerged as a thriving African American community in the heart of Denton. Quakertown flourished through 1920, its growth due in part to its location near the city square and the opportunities it provided African . . . — — Map (db m178459) HM
Built in 1904 by H. F. Davidson at 607 Bell Ave. in the African American community of Quakertown, this house was purchased by C. Ross Hembry in 1919. He sold the land to the City of Denton for $2,700 in 1922 and moved the structure to 1113 E. . . . — — Map (db m178760) HM
This iron bridge, named to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2004, was built in 1907-08 by the Austin Bros. Bridge Co. of Dallas. It was located 2.5 miles SE of Sanger on Rector Road at Clear Creek. Citizens of the Sanger area . . . — — Map (db m178991) HM
In 1875 a group of black pioneers from the White Rock Community in Dallas moved to Denton County and named their settlement Freedman Town. Worship services, prayer groups, and Bible meetings were held in private homes. A minister among them, the . . . — — Map (db m178865) HM
The original part of this house was built in 1885-86 for local grocer Robert C. Scripture and his wife Annie (Brown). It was later owned by Robert Hann, a merchant and civic leader. Constructed as a Victorian residence, it was remodeled and . . . — — Map (db m178609) HM
This Arts and Crafts Mission Style home was built in 1915 by prominent civic leader, James W. Simmons, and his wife, Susan S. Gregg, granddaughter of Darius Gregg, Denton County pioneer and founder of Gregg Ranch. Reminiscent of the Greggs' . . . — — Map (db m178748) HM
Charles Christian Lacy (1816 - 70) moved with wife Sarah (Brown) from Kentucky to Texas, 1854; platted Denton townsite, 1855; had what is thought to have been city's first hotel, existent 1858-82, at this site. Before he gained fame as bandit, Sam . . . — — Map (db m178765) HM
St. Emmanuel began as the Second Baptist Church of Quakertown, an African American community within present Denton that existed from the mid-1880s until 1922. That year, the city held a bond election to buy all the community property to convert to . . . — — Map (db m178869) HM
During Denton County’s early years, farming and ranching were the traditional pursuits. When the railroads entered the county, subsistence farming gave way to farming that yielded money-making crops that could be shipped to various markets. In . . . — — Map (db m203493) HM
At this site, on the second floor of a hardware store, 70 students enrolled for the first session of Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute, September 16, 1890. The students included 28 Creeks from Indian territory. The city of Denton . . . — — Map (db m178763) HM
Pioneers settled this locality in the 1840s. 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 . . . — — Map (db m121784) HM
The Girls Industrial Institute and College of Texas was created in 1901. Fourteen cities offered sites. Denton was chosen February 5, 1902. The cornerstone of this building, the first on the campus, was laid on January 10, 1903. The architecture . . . — — Map (db m178877) HM
Situated on the last of the public square lots sold in January 1857, the Sherman Building rises from the rubble to commemorate the site's prominent history as the place from which "The Great Fire of 1860" originated. After Mr. J.M. Smoot's store . . . — — Map (db m178766) HM
The original Rock Garden and native botanical area at this site was established in the 1930s by the Exterior Beautification Committee of Texas State College for Women, now Texas Woman's University. Members of the committee were Willie Isabella . . . — — Map (db m178861) HM
The Mounts family first arrived in Denton County in the 1850s from Virginia. W.H. Mounts (1833-1889) and his wife, Martha Elizabeth (Mattie) Mounts (1838-1914), were early residents of the new county seat of Denton, which had been moved from New . . . — — Map (db m154096) HM
