"Keeweechic's Denton" a Denton Travel Page by keeweechic

Denton is the county seat of Denton County and was established in 1857 when early settlers who first settled in various areas of the county, wanted the county seat right in the middle of the county. Land was donated for the town which was named like the county after John B. Denton, a pioneer lawyer, preacher and soldier. Denton was killed during an Indian skirmish at Village Creek in 1841Growth in Denton was slow. In 1870 there were 361 residents, 32 of whom were black. The population increased to 2558 in 1890 when the Texas and Pacific Railway from Sherman to Fort Worth and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad to Dallas brought a rail outlet to the town, although this only brought a north south rail connection and so did not develop as a manufacturing and wholesale centre.

It was a centre for agricultural trade and there were flour mills and cottonseed oil mills along with small cottage industries. After 1890 Denton then became a college town when the North Texas Normal College (now the University of North Texas) was established and then later in 1903 when the Girls’ Industrial College (now Texas Woman’s University) was established. TWU is the largest university for women in the nation.

The Federal Civil Defence Administration’s regional office moved to Denton from Dallas in 1954 and constructed a large underground shelter. It was the only FCDA underground shelter around at that time and was designated as the place from which the President of the United States along with other federal officials could go and direct the country from in case of an attack.

Denton has many large manufacturing companies making their base there such as Victor Equipment, Peterbilt and other small light industrial businesses. With the opening of the Dallas/Ft Worth international airport, many airline employers took up residence in South Denton and the population has grown to close to 90,000.