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Interesting Facts
- Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum exhibits an array of artifacts spanning Denton's history. Highlights include displays about the historic families of Denton and the area's pottery and weaponry, along with a thimble collection, an American pressed blue glass collection, toys, fine and folk art, and more. A must-see for visitors.
- Located in Lowry Woods on the campus of Texas Woman's University, Little Chapel in the Woods was designed by noted architect O'Neil Ford and dedicated by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt on 1 November 1939. Even today, the chapel is regarded as a place where nature, art, and faith come together. It continues to be a popular place for quiet meditation.
- If, as Elizabeth I observed, every dog has his day, that day must take place on the first Saturday of June – at least in Denton, Texas. The annual Dog Days of Summer Celebration puts the spotlight on man's best friend, and festivities include a dog parade, stupid person tricks, paw readers, and doggie "glam shots." The event also features a pageant to determine who is "top dog."
- No, Mean Green Fever is nothing you catch from mosquitoes or by drinking the water in an undeveloped country. Actually, it's the nickname of University of North Texas athletics teams, who compete at the NCAA I-A level. Especially during football season, Denton Saturdays are energized by thousands of green-clad fans and alumni, who come in for home games at 30,000-seat Fouts Field.
- Make no mistake about it: Denton is a special place to live, thanks to its vibrant downtown. Attractive Courthouse Square and the streets that surround it are home to locally-owned shops, restaurants, and bars. In fact, efforts the city put into revitalizing the area (beginning with the Courthouse restoration in 1986) have won the Denton Main Street Association numerous awards for historic preservation, rehabilitation, and adaptive re-use.
- Folks may wonder why Denton's main shopping center is called Golden Triangle Mall. In point of fact, Denton forms the top of the so-called Golden Triangle metropolitan area, with Dallas and Fort Worth serving as the bottom two points. While Denton may be smallest of the three, it's by no means least important, thanks to its many industries and the town's two highly regarded universities.
- While football coaching legend Hayden Frye, a Baylor graduate, is perhaps more closely associated with the University of Iowa, he enjoyed a stint at UNT (then called North Texas State). His Texas career lasted from 1973 until 1978; during that time, he compiled a 40-23-3 record. For his 37-year career, Frye tallied 232 wins to go along with 178 losses and 10 ties, earning him a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
- Denton, which traces its roots to 1857, was named in honor of John B. Denton, a lawyer, preacher, and soldier. (Denton is buried in the center of the downtown square, right in front of the courthouse.) What's truly interesting about the town's origin is that it was not a settlement before it was founded. That's right: residents wanted the county seat to be located in the center of the county, so several owners donated land for the new town, which was laid out by Joseph A. Carroll and officially incorporated in 1866.
- Aside from providing the setting for two prominent Texas universities, this city of 80,000-plus residents is also home to members of Grammy Award-winning bands Brave Combo and 1 O'Clock Lab. Other famous folks with links to Denton include rock-n-roll legends Don Henley, Roy Orbison, and Pat Boone, all alumni of the University of North Texas.
- Each fall, Denton embraces its newest sons and daughters – that is, incoming freshmen at Texas Woman's University and the University of North Texas. The former, founded by legislative act in 1901, offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral curriculums and is renowned for its work in Health Sciences. (TWU also began accepting male students in the early 1970s.) The latter, meanwhile, dates from 1890 and boasts a population of more than 30,000 graduate and undergraduate students. UNT offers a wide array of degree programs and is recognized nationally as a research university and as one of Texas's "Big Five," an honor given to the state's largest and toughest schools.
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