Geography of Denton County Page: 23
xii, 132 p. : illus. (incl. maps) plates, port. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
seat to Alton, spoken of now-a-days as Old Alton. It
was four and one-half miles southeast of Denton in the
Peters Colony near the present town of Corinth. The
location was on the interstream area between Pecan and
Hickory Creeks and on a spot elevated above the im-
mediate hinterland. Water, an important consideration
always, was found lacking. At least the well they dug
showed no water; hence another move became neces-
sary. The Third Legislature, in 1850, moved the coun-
ty seat to a spot five miles south of Denton, on Hickory
Creek. This place, also, was called Alton. Water in
abundance was found here; so in 1851 a log court house
was built, and for about six years Alton was the county
seat. Alton was on the mail route between Preston on
Red River and Birdville, just a little northeast of Fort
Worth. In 1856 the people expressed a preference for
having a more central location and the fourth and final
choice was made, and Denton has been the county seat
since that time. The city of Denton is about three-
fourths of a mile northwest of the center of the county.
One hundred acres were given to the town of Denton
by the pioneer men, and the town was laid off in lots
and sold at a public sale. The revenue was used in the
building of a log court house in 1857, located on the
north side of the square. Then one Sunday afternoon
in July, 1861, four years after the county seat was per-
manently established, a big fire swept over the town,
-23-
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Cowling, Mary Jo. Geography of Denton County, book, 1936; Dallas, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth90885/m1/37/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.