1848 Denton County Seat
Corinth, Denton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Originally part of the Republic of Texas’ Fannin County, Denton County was established in 1846, when the first legislature of the State of Texas created and organized thirty-one new counties. Efforts to colonize the area eventually resulted in Denton becoming the county seat in 1857. Before Denton the county had three other seats. In 1846, Pinckneyville was established in the geographic center of the county, however, many early settlers were located further southeast. The seat was moved in 1848 to the first Alton, which was on a ridge between present-day Pecan and Hickory Creeks, four miles south of Denton, near Corinth. The name was chosen by early settlers, brothers Enoch and Lorenzo Moore, who were from Alton, Illinois. William Creth Baines, the only resident of the town of Alton, used his home as the legal Denton County Seat. A post office was established in 1848, with Stephen A. Venters as the first postmaster. A well was dug at the site of the first Alton but was dry. Because of the problems associated with the lack of water, the town was moved in 1851 to the area of the residence of Alexander E. Cannon on Hickory Creek. This second Alton is now known as Old Alton. The new site drew water from nearby Hickory Creek and by 1855, had at least two stores, a post office and a hotel. In 1857, on the behest of citizens who were unhappy with the progress of Alton, the county seat was moved to a more central location in present-day Denton. Denton County voters accepted an offer from Hiram Cisco, William Loving and William Woodruff to provide 100 acres of property for a new county seat. The new town, near the center of the county, was named Denton in 1857. Nearby is the supposed site of the dry well of the first Alton site. (2016)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Carved from Fannin County when Texas created 31 new counties in 1846, Denton County spent a decade searching for a workable seat of government. After Pinckneyville, the seat moved in 1848 to the first Alton — a ridge-top town near present Corinth whose lone resident, William Creth Baines, used his home as the courthouse — but a dry well forced a move to Old Alton in 1851. Only in 1857 did voters settle the seat at a central site they named Denton.
Why it matters
The county's roving seat shows how frontier Texans literally chased water and geography while improvising the institutions of self-government.
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Related people
- · William Creth Baines
- · Enoch Moore
- · Lorenzo Moore
Themes & tags
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