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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, 59.3; Black, 10.3; Hispanic, 19.4; Asian, 9.0; Other, 1.0; Two or more races, 2.6.

Vital Statistics, annual: Births, 10,040; deaths, 3,374; marriages, 4,404; divorces, 2,548.

Recreation: Lake activities, parks; 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 (141,923) county seat; universities, manufacturers of trucks (Peterbilt), medical, aviation; hospitals; historic courthouse square; storytelling festival in March.

LEWISVILLE (108,159) commuting to Dallas-Fort Worth, retail center, electronics and varied industries; hospital, library; Celtic Feis & Scottish Highland Games in March.

Flower Mound (74,318) residential community, library, mound of native grasses, bike classic in spring.

Carrollton (136,815, also in Dallas County), hospital.

Other towns include:  Argyle (4,080) horse farms/training, bluegrass festival in March; Aubrey (3,405) horse farms/training, cabinet construction, museum, peanut festival early October; Bartonville (1,715); Copper Canyon (1,485); Corinth (22,429); Cross Roads (1,891); Draper (33); Dish (457); Double Oak (3,204); Hackberry (1,125); Hebron (426); Hickory Creek (4,425); Highland Village (17,037); Justin (3,837); Krugerville (1,917); Krum (5,191) commuters, old grain mill, heritage museum, North Pole Days in December; Lake Dallas (8,264) light manufacturing, marina, historic downtown, Mardi Gras.

Also, Lakewood Village (675); Lantana (7,965); Little Elm (42,771) real estate, retail, lake activities/beach area, summer concert series; Northlake (2,461); Oak Point (3,646); Pilot Point (4,465) light manufacturing, horse ranches, Fireman’s Fest in April; Ponder (1,618); Providence (6,323); Roanoke (8,066); Sanger (8,831) distribution center, commuters, government/services, lakes, Sellabration in September; Shady Shores (3,038); The Colony (44,188) retail, business offices, industrial firms;  parks, nature trails, salute to veterans on Veterans Day; and Trophy Club (12,923) commuters, retail.

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

Fishing on Ray Roberts Lake. Photo by Robert Plocheck.