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Physical Features: North Texas county; partly hilly, draining to Elm Fork of Trinity River, Lewisville Lake, Ray Roberts Lake, Grapevine Lake; Blackland and Grand Prairie soils and terrain.

Economy: Varied industries, colleges, horse industry, tourism, government/services; part of Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

History: Land grant from Texas Congress 1841 for Peters colony. County created, organized, out of Fannin County in 1846; named for John B. Denton, pioneer Methodist minister.

Race/Ethnicity: (In percent) Anglo, 58.3; Black, 10.6; Hispanic, 19.5; Asian, 9.5; Other, 0.9; Two or more races, 2.7.

Vital Statistics, annual: Births, 10,040; deaths, 3,374; marriages, 4,698; divorces, 2,763.

Recreation: Lake activities, Ray Roberts Lake State Park and Greenbelt; universities’ cultural, athletic activities, including “Texas Women; A Celebration of History”; “First Ladies of Texas” collection of memorabilia; Little Chapel in the Woods; Texas Motor Speedway; Denton Jazz Festival in April.

Minerals: Natural gas.

Education: University of North Texas, Texas Woman’s University, and North Central Texas College.

Agriculture: Second in market value of horses (more than 9,000 horses). Eggs, nurseries, turf, cattle; also, hay, sorghum, wheat, peanuts grown. Market value $123.2 million.

DENTON (140,975) county seat; universities, manufacturers of trucks (Peterbilt), medical, aviation; hospitals; historic courthouse square; storytelling festival in March.

LEWISVILLE (111,150) commuting to Dallas-Fort Worth, retail center, electronics and varied industries; hospital, library; Celtic Feis & Scottish Highland Games in March.

Flower Mound (77,530) residential community, library, mound of native grasses, bike classic in spring.

Carrollton (141,615, also in Dallas County), hospital.

Other towns include:  Argyle (4,220) horse farms/training, bluegrass festival in March; Aubrey (3,733) horse farms/training, cabinet construction, museum, peanut festival early October; Bartonville (1,773); Copper Canyon (1,505); Corinth (22,713); Cross Roads (1,644); Draper (28); Dish (421); Double Oak (3,242); Hackberry (1,181); Hebron (441); Hickory Creek (4,753); Highland Village (17,092); Justin (4,089); Krugerville (2,010); Krum (5,175) commuters, old grain mill, heritage museum, North Pole Days in December; Lake Dallas (7,890) light manufacturing, marina, historic downtown, Mardi Gras.

Also, Lakewood Village (694); Lantana (7,985); Little Elm (58,610) real estate, retail, lake activities/beach area, summer concert series; Northlake (3,354); Oak Point (4,534); Pilot Point (4,563) light manufacturing, horse ranches, Fireman’s Fest in April; Ponder (2,520); Providence (6,324); Roanoke (9,282); Sanger (9,241) distribution center, commuters, government/services, lakes, Sellabration in September; Shady Shores (3,169); The Colony (46,384) retail, business offices, industrial firms;  parks, nature trails, salute to veterans on Veterans Day; and Trophy Club (14,169) commuters, retail.

Part [26,579] of Dallas, part [7,813] of Fort Worth, part [44,500] of Frisco, part [5,316] of Plano, and small parts of Coppell, Celina, Prosper, Southlake, Westlake.

Fishing on Ray Roberts Lake. Photo by Robert Plocheck.