The University of North Texas began in 1890 as a private teacher-training school above a Denton hardware store, and it moved to this hill a year later. The state took it over in 1901, and over the following century it grew into one of the largest universities in Texas, famous for its music program and its Mean Green athletes. This walk starts at the site of the first campus building, visits the oldest one still standing, and follows the pedestrian malls past the administration tower, the eagle sculpture, and the library at the heart of student life.
About this site
University of North Texas is a public college or university in Denton, Denton County. It is one of 2 degree-granting colleges and universities TexasRoam maps in Denton County.
The site sits at 33.2143, -97.1482 near Denton. The nearest cataloged historic site is First University Building (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Historical Building, Evers House, and Texas Fashion Collection.
UNT traces its start to September 16, 1890, when educator Joshua C. Chilton opened the private Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute in rented rooms above a hardware store on the Denton courthouse square, admitting women from the first day. A dedicated Normal Building followed in 1891, and before the decade was out Texas lawmakers voted to make the school state-supported, a change that took full effect as North Texas State Normal College in 1901. Its title shifted with its mission over the next ninety years: North Texas State Teachers College in 1923, North Texas State College in 1949, North Texas State University in 1961, and finally the University of North Texas in 1988. After a federal court case in the mid-1950s, the college began admitting Black students and became one of the earlier Texas public institutions to desegregate. Music has long defined its reputation; in the late 1940s it launched what it describes as the country's first jazz studies program, and the One O'Clock Lab Band built an international name under longtime director Leon Breeden. The historic core around the Hurley Administration Building and Willis Library has since been joined by the Discovery Park research campus in north Denton, home to the College of Engineering. UNT reached the Carnegie Classification's highest research tier in 2016 and today enrolls well over 40,000 students, making it one of the largest universities in Texas.
See this site and every marker, cemetery, courthouse, museum and landmark across Texas on one live map — find what's near you, get directions, and check in as you roam.
