Denton Economic Development Partnership

Denton embarked on a course that would make it a major higher education center when North Texas Normal College, now the University of North Texas, was established in 1890. Legislation authorizing the Girls College of Industrial Arts, now Texas Woman's University, was passed in 1901. Denton County covers 911 square miles in north central Texas. The Eastern Cross Timbers juts through the central part of the county. Blackland prairie covers its western half and a slice along its eastern edge. The Elm Fork of the Trinity River flows through the county. The river was dammed in 1920 to form Lake Dallas, which has been expanded and is now known as Lewisville Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the river farther upstream in 1986 to form Ray Roberts Lake. A greenbelt along the Elm Fork connects the two lakes. A number of state parks border the lakes. Vital transportation links contributed more growth. Interstate 35 East was built in the 1950s and joined by Interstate 35 West in the 1970s. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport opened in January 1974. By the 1970s, Denton County was the fastest-growing county in the country, with most of the growth along the Interstate 35 East corridor. Denton County has ranked among the top fast-growing counties throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Population has spiraled from 75,633 in 1970 to 143,126 in 1980 to 276,083 in 1990 and 432,976 in 2000. Alliance Airport, which straddles the Denton County-Tarrant County boundary in the southwest corner of the county, opened in December 1989 to trigger growth along Interstate 35 West. Texas Motor Speedway, one of the largest sports and entertainment facilities in the world, opened in 1997 along Interstate 35 West. By the end of the century, over 400,000 people were living in an increasingly urban Denton County. By the year 2000, the northern area of the county was a center for horse ranches and a balanced farming region producing wheat, cotton, beef and dairy cattle. Much of the industrial and commercial growth, as well as population growth, was centered in southern Denton County.