Denton County

The Handbook of Texas gives the county's early makeup in numbers. In 1850 about 40 percent of settlers named Tennessee or Kentucky as their birthplace. Slavery was smaller here than on plantation ground but it was real: in 1860, eighty-seven slaveholders held 251 enslaved people among 4,780 residents. Cotton acreage grew from 29,785 acres in 1880 to a peak of 115,078 in 1920. Wheat built the reputation, though, and from 1890 to 1920 only Collin County sometimes outranked Denton in Texas wheat production. Krum was reputed to be the country's largest inland wheat market in 1900.

What the plaque says

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.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square — steps away
  An 1896 courthouse by W. C. Dodson in Denton limestone, pink granite and two sandstones, restored in 2004, now a free county museum on a lawn holding the grave of John B. Denton.
• Wise County Courthouse — 26 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's granite Romanesque courthouse of 1895-96 in Decatur, built after fire destroyed the Second Empire courthouse and set off a fight over the county seat.

More markers nearby

• Texas Normal College — steps away
• Edna Westbrook Trigg in Denton County — steps away
• John B. Denton — steps away
• The City of Denton — steps away