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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, 60.3; Black, 10.0; Hispanic, 19.2; Asian, 8.6; Other, 0.9; Two or more races, 2.6.

Vital Statistics, annual: Births, 9,872; 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 and Texas Woman’s University.

Agriculture: Second in number of horses. Eggs, nurseries, turf, cattle; also, hay, sorghum, wheat, peanuts grown. Market value $137 million.

DENTON (139,329) county seat; universities, manufacturers of trucks (Peterbilt), medical, aviation; hospitals; historic courthouse square; storytelling festival in March.

LEWISVILLE (106,855) commuting to Dallas-Fort Worth, retail center, electronics and varied industries; hospital, library; Celtic Feis & Scottish Highland Games in March.

Flower Mound (73,552) residential community, library, mound of native grasses, bike classic in spring.

Carrollton (136,261, also in Dallas County), hospital.

Other towns include:  Argyle (4,022) horse farms/training, bluegrass festival in March; Aubrey (3,593) horse farms/training, cabinet construction, peanut festival in October; Bartonville (1,705); Copper Canyon (1,487); Corinth (22,778); Corral City (29); Cross Roads (1,899); Dish (318); Double Oak (3,260); Hackberry (1,110); Hebron (427); Hickory Creek (4,108); Highland Village (16,288); Justin (3,813); Krugerville (1,987); Krum (5,042) commuters, old grain mill, heritage museum, North Pole Days in December; Lake Dallas (8,313) light manufacturing, marina, historic downtown, Mardi Gras.

Also, Lakewood Village (669); Lantana (8,018); Little Elm (38,833) light manufacturing, lake activities, summer concert series; Northlake (2,453); Oak Point (3,224); Pilot Point (4,450) light manufacturing, horse ranches, Fireman’s Fest in April; Ponder (1,694); Providence (6,034); Roanoke (7,585); Sanger (8,919) distribution center, commuters, government/services, lakes, Sellabration in September; Shady Shores (3,109); The Colony (42,937) retail, business offices, industrial firms;  parks, nature trails, salute to veterans on Veterans Day; and Trophy Club (13,431) 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.