Denton City

Denton City Hall is located at 215 East McKinney Street, Denton, TX 76201; phone: 940-349-8200.

City of Denton as described in 1918 [1]

The present city of Denton speaks for itself. We are now concerned only with its history leading up to a city of seven thousand inhabitants.

Denton was chosen the county seat of Denton County on the first Tuesday in November, 1856, and had its lot sale on January 10, 1857. The records were moved into the new courthouse in April, 1857. The city had one hundred acres of land deeded to it and had a splendid opportunity to lay off the city in blocks and lots in regular order, but for some reason did not do so.

Denton was incorporated September 26, 1866. The charter provided for a mayor and five aldermen to be elected by the people.

The Legislature granted the city of Denton a new charter on May 28, 1873, defining the city's boundaries as follows:

The charter provided for the election of a mayor and five aldermen. This was afterwards amended, providing for a mayor and two aldermen from each ward (or eight in all), to be elected by the people.

The Legislature at a subsequent session passed a law validating all prior acts of the city council and mayor which pertained to the corporation. This law was supposed to have "cured" a number of perplexing features.

On April 4, 1914, the people of Denton adopted a new charter, formed by a committee of fourteen citizens and voted on under the enabling act. It was called the managerial commission form and extends the borders of the city on the north and west sides. It provides for five commissioners, to be elected by the people, to serve for two years each, without remuneration, and empowers them to appoint a mayor and re-delegate power to him to appoint all other officers and discharge them at discretion. It provides for initiative, referendum, and recall, but the recall is only for officers elected and does not extend to officers appointed. Only the commissioners can be recalled. It provides for a tax of not exceeding $1.80 on the one hundred dollars.

The first courthouse was built in 1857 on the north side of the square. It burned Christmas week, 1875. The next was a two-story brick structure built in the center of the square by contract which was let to J. H. Britton, May 31, 1876.

1. Ed. F. Bates, History and Reminiscences of Denton County, McNitzky Printing Company, Denton, TX, 1918.