Denton

Formed April 11, 1846 (62^nd county)

Denton County (906,405), Denton (139,861)

The beautiful domes at the center and at the corners make the 1896 Second Empire and Romanesque Revival courthouse unique.  Wesley C. Dodson designed the structure located on the square in the center.  United States Highways 77 and 377 and Oak and Hickory streets are the sides to the square.  Stone and granite pillars were used to construct the building.  The facility was renovated in 2004.  A County Courts Building was built in 1998.  An augmenting Courthouse is in Flower Mound.  Four courthouses have served Denton County since it was organized on April 11, 1846, the first being in Pickneyville in 1846, then Alton in 1848, and in the city of Denton in 1850.  The county was formed from the original Fannin County as the 62^nd county.  Denton County and city were named for John B. Denton, a preacher who was killed at the Battle of Village Creek.

Denton County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  Eight District Court Judges and Nine County Court Judges serve Denton County.   The county is one of the four counties making the Metroplex around Dallas/Fort Worth.  Fort Worth, Texas is south and Dallas, Texas is southeast.  A fork of the Trinity River transits the county from north to south.  Manufacturing, farming, and some ranching provide the economic base.  The county center is in Denton 1.8 miles Northeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Cooke, Grayson, Collin, Dallas, Tarrant, and Wise counties. 

The area of the county is 888 square miles.  It is 168 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 7 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1020.7 persons per square mile making it 7 out of 254 in the state.  Denton County has 87.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 enters from Cooke County on the north and splits in Denton County.  Interstate Highway 35 East goes from the split southeast into Dallas County.  Interstate Highway 35 West travels southwest from the split into Tarrant County.  United States Highway 377 crosses north to south from Grayson County into Tarrant County.  United States Highway 380 enters from Collin County on the east and exits into Wise County on the west.  The county is basically square shaped.  Denton is approximately in the county’s center.  Denton is the county seat and the largest city.  Denton is 15.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area.