History
Pioneer Woman
Marking a trail in a pathless wilderness, pressing forward with unswerving courage, she met each untried situation with a resourcefulness equal to the need. With a glad heart she brought to her frontier family her homeland's cultural heritage.
History
Plainview Cemetery
Located in western Denton County, Plainview Cemetery served as a burial ground for early settlers in the area. The Plainview community began around 1878 when the families of Gideon Kimbrough (1833-1923) and William Kimbrough (1824-1912) and their families arrived from Bellville, Tennessee. As the community grew, the need for a school was recognized and a one-room school building was erected.
History
Prairie Mound Cemetery
This burial ground was in use by 1882 when adjoining property was deeded to the Prairie Mound Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The earliest marked grave here is that of Edgar Myers (1875-1878), the son of J. E. and M. J. Myers. Church services were discontinued before 1920, and a public school, organized nearby in 1878, was consolidated with neighboring districts in the 1940s.
History
Quakertown
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 Americans.
Architecture
Rayzor-Graham House
Business and civic leader J. Fred Rayzor (1890-1965) had this home constructed in 1912 by local builder M. T. Goodwin. It was purchased in 1941 by W. E. Graham (1890-1963) and remained in his family until 1974. Features of the one-story American foursquare home include bungalow details in the door, columns, and windows.
History
Roanoke
In 1881, the Texas & Pacific Railroad came through here and established this community, named by a railroad surveyor from Roanoke, Virginia. Settlers lived in the area before the town was platted, arriving as early as 1847. Many of these residents relocated to Roanoke from nearby communities such as Garden Valley (originally Medlin Settlement) and Elizabethtown.
History
Roanoke I.O.O.F. Cemetery
Although few records exist of the Roanoke I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Oddfellows) Lodge No. 421, it is known that lodge members purchased land at this site in 1897 for use as a burial ground. Consisting of approximately five and one-half acres, the cemetery always has been maintained as a public graveyard and never was limited to the families of lodge members.
History
Roanoke Lodge No. 668, A.F. & A.M.
Chartered in 1888, Roanoke Lodge No. 668 replaced the W. C. Young Masonic Lodge, which had been meeting in nearby Elizabethtown. Members of the Roanoke Lodge met in a variety of rented quarters until 1908, when they built a two-story frame lodge hall. While the first floor of the building was made available to a number of community groups, the second floor was reserved solely for Masonic use.
History
Roanoke Water Tower
Built during the Great Depression, the Roanoke Water Tower was the town's primary water source. Hugh H. Jenkins, Roanoke's first Mayor, advocated for the well and water system to help the newly-incorporated community grow. In 1934, he consulidated Roanoke's water system under the city and applied for public works administration funding, which was granted and used for the tower's 1936 construction.
Industry & Science
Roark-Griffith Pottery Site
Stoneware production was a vital activity of the 19th century. A typical layout included clay pits, firing kilns and workshops. James M. Roark (1837-1901) a master potter from Missouri, apprenticed at John Cranston's nearby kiln before partnering with J.A. Smith in 1871 to start a pottery works near Big Elm Creek. In 1884, Roark sold the business to M.B. Griffith (1834-1924) and his son, J.F.
Transport
Sanger and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway
Sanger originated in 1886 at mile post 392.16 as a water stop along the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Route leading north from Fort Worth to Purcell, Indian territory (now Oklahoma). The stop's proximity to north Denton county cattle ranches and to the Chisholm Trail led the railroad to construct a side track, cattle pens, loading chute and depot. Mrs.
Civic & Local
Sanger Presbyterian Church
Founded 1896, in 1902 built this structure on land given by Jack R. Sullivan, a Baptist. With town's best auditorium, this became site of school and civic programs; elocution and music were taught here. Community bought building when congregation in 1971 moved to a new church. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972
Architecture
Scripture-Deavenport House
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 enlarged about 1912 during the ownership of banker B. H. Deavenport. The mission revival changes were completed by M. B.
History
Skinner Cemetery
In the early days of Pilot Point, Lucinda (Glasscock) and Richard Skinner set aside a 2.44-acre piece of land to be used as a cemetery. The first recorded burial was that of 5-year-old Josiah Taylor in March of 1858; his father, Josiah Sr., died the following July.
History
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church has provided for the spiritual needs of residents in this region since the late nineteenth century. Before that time, Catholics in the town of Pilot Point, organized in 1854, had no nearby place of worship. Early area Catholics, many of whom were of German origin, had to travel two days to attend services in Gainesville or Sherman.
History
Swisher Cemetery
Reflecting the earliest years of Anglo settlement in this part of north central Texas, the Swisher Cemetery began on land granted to H. H. Swisher for his service in the Texas War for Independence from Mexico. The oldest burial in the cemetery, that of Francis Long, dates to 1867. When H. H. Swisher's son, Capt. A. P.
History
Texas International Pop Festival
The Texas International Pop Festival took place near this site during Labor Day weekend, 1969. It was held two weeks after the Woodstock Music and Art Fair introduced much of mainstream America to the 'hippie' culture by way of news reports of the chaos that occurred there in part due to rainy weather and lax security.
History
Texas Normal College
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 provided classrooms for the faculty of five under president Joshua C. Chilton, an educator with previous experience and training in Ohio and Indiana.
History
The City of Denton
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 Cisco, William Loving, and William Woodruff. The city and county were named for John B.
Architecture
The First Building of Texas Woman's University
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 is neoclassical revival. Classes began on September 23, 1903, with 186 students and 14 faculty members. For years this was the only academic structure.
History
The Hedgcoxe War
Distribution of land in the Peters Colony of north Texas triggered a dispute known as the Hedgcoxe War. The Texas Emigration & Land Co. organized the colony under an 1841 Republic of Texas law which allowed it to keep one-half of a settler's grant. After protests, this right was repealed, but in Feb. 1852 the company was compensated with 1,088,000 acres of vacant land within the colony.
History
Tyson Cemetery
J. P. Newton (1821-56), a settler from Tennessee, is the earliest known burial in this cemetery. Charles Hammons (1854-64) has the second oldest stone. He was a grandson of another Tennessean, Charles Lee Sullivan (1810-68), a leader in this community. This burial ground, bought 1869 by Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Hammons, Sullivan's son-in-law and daughter, later was donated to the public by James R.
Nature
University Gardens, Texas Woman's University
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 Birge, director of the Department of Biology, Fred Westcourt, director of the Department of Rural Arts and Mary Marshall, director of the Department of Art.
History
William E. Partlow, First Mayor of Sanger
A Virginian and a soldier who surrendered at Appomattox with Gen. Robert E. Lee, W. E. Partlow moved to Texas after the Civil War (1861-65). He married Nancy Jane Sullivan (1860-1922), daughter of Denton County pioneers, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Sullivan. Partlow, a merchant, was elected first mayor when Sanger was incorporated in 1892. He built this house for his family in 1904.
Architecture
Woodrum-Boyd House
In 1932, newlyweds Elbert Norfleet "E.N." Woodrum (1901-1955) and Comette Josephine (Ramsey) Woodrum (1910-1986) hired contractors to construct a Tudor Revival house. Notable architectural features include asymmetrical cross gables, a large three-story chimney placed prominently on the south elevation, and a wide plank oak front door with a tudor arch and leaded glass window featuring diagonally…
Elsewhere in Texas
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