History
1848 Denton County Seat
Originally part of the Republic of Texas' Fannin County, Denton County was established in 1846, when the first legislature of the State of Texas created and organized thirty-one new counties. Efforts to colonize the area eventually resulted in Denton becoming the county seat in 1857. Before Denton the county had three other seats.
Architecture
1927 Denton City Hall
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.
History
Argyle
This area was first settled in the 1850s by members of the Peters Colony. In 1881 the town of Argyle was started by Galveston developer James Morrill, when a rail line was built through the area. Early residents came from neighboring settlements. Schools consolidated with Argyle included Beulah, Pilot Knob, Stoney Ridge, Lane, and parts of the Prairie Mound and Litsey districts.
History
Aubrey First United Methodist Church
IN 1858, DR. GEORGE T. KEY AND HIS FAMILY, ORIGINALLY FROM MISSOURI, MOVED TO DENTON COUNTY AND SETTLED NEAR THE PRESENT TOWN OF AUBREY. THERE THEY BUILT LOG CABINS, ONE OF WHICH WAS USED FOR A SCHOOL AND CHURCH. THE BUILDING, KNOWN AS THE KEY SCHOOL HOUSE, WAS THE HOME OF ONE OF THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCHES ESTABLISHED IN DENTON COUNTY, LATER RENAMED AUBREY METHODIST CHURCH.
History
Bethel Community
Settlement of this area began in the 1850s. Among the pioneer families were those of Samuel K. Smith, Anderson Nowlin, William Crawford, and Sam Lusk. As family farms were established, a loosely organized rural community was formed. By the 1870s more people had moved to the area, including the F. M. Frie family. The Frie and Nowlin families both set aside land for school and church purposes.
History
Beulah A. Harriss
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 physical education, Harriss coached the university's first women's athletic teams and instructed every sport except football.
History
Bolivar, Townsite of
Named indirectly for Simon Bolivar, South American statesman, general and patriot. It might have been called "New Prospect," but for a mug of rum. When town was founded in 1852, a man who had settled here from Bolivar, Tenn., wanted to name the community in honor of his hometown. But a preacher-doctor insisted that it be named New Prospect.
History
Bridges Cemetery
Bridges settlement, named for the W. A. Bridges family and reportedly the oldest in Denton county, began in 1843 and was a center of activity of the Peters Colony. This cemetery, on land granted to Bridges in 1850, dates to 1855, although illegible stones may be slightly older.
History
Chinn's Chapel Cemetery
Elisha and Mary Stowe Chinn purchased this site in 1853 and donated 10 acres atop the hill north of Lockhart Spring. As deaths occurred among the early settlers to this area, services were held in the log cabin chapel, and graves were placed nearby. Travel to the cemetery was difficult, especially for those living outside the community.
History
Christal House
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 Burnett's 6666 Ranch near Wichita Falls.
History
City of Krum
Located in west-central Denton County, the city of Krum began as a pioneer settlement, known as the Jackson community, near present-day Krum Jackson Cemetery in 1876. Soon, the families decided to establish a school. Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Barrett and C.H. Jackson deeded land for the school and a cemetery.
History
City of Pilot Point
Attracted by fertile land and abundant water and game, pioneers began to settle at this site near the edge of the Cross Timbers region in the late 1840s. The village, first known as Pilot's Point, was named for a high point of timber that served travelers as a landmark. Near an early immigrant trail, Pilot Point was also a stop on the Butterfield State Route.
History
Community of Little Elm
The community of Little Elm is located on land that was part of the original Peters Colony empresario grant awarded by the Republic of Texas in 1841. Among the earliest colonists in this vicinity to receive land under the Peters grant were John (d. 1846) and Delilah (1806 - 1884) King, who moved from North Carolina in 1844 to settle a 640-acre tract about one mile southwest of this site.
History
Corinth Shiloh Cemetery
Physician and lay preacher Thomas A. Ball and his wife, Nancy (Yeats), came to Denton County from Missouri soon after the Civil War ended in 1865. They settled with their family on land that would become the community of Corinth. The Ball family donated land already in use as a graveyard to the Primitive Baptist Church at Shiloh. The first marked grave is that of William Garrison (d. 1870).
History
Denton County
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 designated as Pinckneyville, 1846. Site selected in 1848 called Alton permanently located at Denton in 1850.
Architecture
Denton County Courthouse
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 marble. Architecture is free combination of Victorian styles, with French second empire pavilions, fanciful ogival domes. Architect was W. C.
History
Eakins Cemetery
Noah (1810-1868) and Susan (1816-1878) Eakins and their family came to this part of Denton County from Kentucky in 1855. This cemetery was established on their land about 1855-58 when a neighbor, Angelina Rayburn, was fatally burned while cooking on an open fire. Lula Q.
History
Edna Westbrook Trigg in Denton County
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, 1938, until her retirement on July 31, 1945.
History
Elizabeth Cemetery
Elizabeth town, settled between 1860 and 1862, became a trade center with businesses, churches, a school and a Masonic lodge. Family tradition says William Perry Harmonson (1836-1907) donated land for the 1.5-acre community graveyard upon the death of his mother Anna (1796-1867). The town began to decline in 1881 after being bypassed by the Texas and Pacific Railroad.
History
Elm Fork Bridge
This historic bridge was an important two-way traffic bridge over the Elm Fork of the Trinity River for growing automobile traffic in Denton County in the 1920s. The bridge is one of only two accessible iron and steel bridges in Denton County remaining in its original location on public land.
History
First University Building
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 building downtown. The 10-acre campus became state property in 1901. President Chilton's college thus was forerunner of North Texas State University.
Nature
Flower Mound
Settlers of the Peters Colony named this smooth, dome-shaped hill for the abundant wild flowers that grow on it. Rising fifty feet above the surrounding prairie, Flower Mound, long has been a point of interest in the area. According to local legends, no structure was ever constructed on top of the mound, nor has any tree grown here. Before W. S.
History
Flower Mound Cemetery
Matthew and Isabella Doyle (Douglass) Donald arrived in Denton County, Texas in 1854. That year, Matthew, a successful farmer, set aside 10 acres for a cemetery, campground and the Flower Mound Presbyterian Church. He served as the first Pastor of the church, to which he formally deeded the land in 1879. The cemetery was used soon after it was established.
History
Forester Ranch
William S. Forester brought his family to Denton County from Tennessee in the early 1850s, and established a ranch about 1852. He was assisted in his ranching operation by his sons, one of whom, Sol, was killed by Indians at the age of sixteen while herding cattle on the ranch. Following William Forester's death the ranch was operated by his son, Lock S. Forester (1844-1913).
History
Furneaux Cemetery
William Furneaux, a native of England, came to Texas in 1857 and married Fanny Jackson (d. 1917), whose family had come to Texas in 1848 as part of the Peters Colony. This cemetery was established in 1884, when Furneaux died and was buried on a section of his farm he had indicated should become a public graveyard. Seven-year-old Peter Husky died soon after and was buried near Furneaux.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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