UNT: From Campus to the Square

UNT did not start on its hilltop. In 1890 it opened as Texas Normal College in rented rooms above a downtown hardware store before moving west the next year. This walk follows that story in reverse, from the campus's oldest surviving building east along Oak Street, once lined with the homes of Denton's merchants and bankers, to the courthouse square where the first classes met. The houses are private residences, so enjoy them from the sidewalk.

The University of North Texas didn't begin on its hilltop campus. In September 1890 about 70 students started the first term of Texas Normal College in rented second-floor rooms by the Denton courthouse square, led by President Joshua C. Chilton and a faculty of five; 28 of them were Creek students from Indian Territory. A year later the school moved west to a new building on the site of today's campus.

This walk connects the university to its downtown birthplace. On campus, the Historical Building, finished in 1912-13 and the oldest surviving building at North Texas, takes its name from the museum that history professor J. L. Kingsbury opened inside it in 1925.

In between lies a neighborhood once favored by Denton's merchants, bankers and doctors, where the houses read like a catalog of turn-of-the-century styles. The Neoclassical Evers House, built in 1903 for a family whose hardware store ran on the square for more than a century, shows off Corinthian columns and bay windows, while other homes range from Mission Revival to a modest 1895 frame cottage. These are private residences, so enjoy them from the sidewalk.

The Denton County Courthouse, finished in 1897 with native limestone walls, Burnet County marble columns and a central clock tower, now houses the Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum.