Denton residents have been conducting business on the Square for more than 150 years. Denton was founded in 1857 when the county seat moved from Alton, and the city’s original lots now encompass the Square around the courthouse.

Courtesy photos/Denton County Museums

These four photographs show the changing face of Elm Street, on the west side of the downtown Denton Square. Below left are businesses as shown in 1876, the same year the county’s burned courthouse was rebuilt. At left, Elm Street in 1889 boasted a grocery, opera house and saloon. Movie theaters were in their heyday in 1956; in 1974, the block boasted a Montgomery Ward, a shoe shop and a pharmacy.

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Shortly after Sheriff C.A. Williams auctioned off the lots in January 1857, construction began on the new town square.

Johnny Lovejoy and Henderson Murphy moved their store and hotel from Alton to the south side of the Square along Hickory Street. The first structure built on the Square was James Smoot’s general merchandise store on the west side along Elm Street, followed by the law office of Otis G. Welch on the east side along Locust Street. A log courthouse was erected facing Oak Street on the north side of the Square.

By 1858, C.C. Lacy, the county surveyor who helped lay out the streets, opened a hotel on the north side. The hotel’s stable and stockade were said to provide protection from Indian attacks.

Until the late 1870s, the structures were made primarily of wood, making them susceptible to fire. In 1860, fire des­troyed the entire west side of the Square, including Smoot’s store. The courthouse burned during Christmas 1875, and a new brick courthouse was built in the center of the Square the following year. Businesses on the south side of the Square burned in 1877, and the Lacy Hotel burned in 1884.

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Courtesy photos/Denton County Museums

1956

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In addition to the 1876 courthouse, several new brick buildings were built in the 1870s, including the Piner Block on the south side and the Paschall Building on the east side. The Paschall Building, 122 N. Locust, is one of the oldest buildings on the Square. It was built in 1877 and housed Ross’ Drug Store and a movie theater; it is now home to Andy’s Bar.

By the 1880s, Denton truly had become the center of the county. The Texas and Pacific and Missouri-Kansas and Texas railroads both ran through Denton, making goods readily available. The Square became home to a variety of locally owned businesses.

There were grocery stores, clothing stores, meat markets, hotels, furniture stores that also operated as funeral homes, drugstores, lawyers’ and doctors’ offices, photography studios, restaurants and an opera house. Four saloons operated at one time, but these closed by 1913 when Denton was made a dry county.

Several buildings built during the last two decades of the 19th century survive today. The Scripture Building at 123 N. Elm was built in 1882 by R.C. Scripture and originally housed the Scripture grocery. It was later home of Olympia Confectionary and, for many years, Western Auto Parts Store.

Until it closed in 2001, Evers Hardware was the longest operating business on the Square. It was opened in 1885 by R.H. and Dolph Evers and moved to its location on Hic­kory ­Street in 1913. The building still bears the original company name.

Courtesy photos/Denton County Museums

1889

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Four prominent buildings on the Square were built after the turn of the 20th century:

* The Wright Opera House opened in 1900. The bottom floor housed a farm implement store. In 1935, Martin Korn­blatt opened the Boston Store in this space; it later housed Kibler Office Supply and is now the site of Recycled Books Records CDs.

* The Denton County Na­tion­al Bank Building was built in 1913. The bank moved in 1962, and Jagoe Abstract operated out of the building.

* The Texas Building sits at the site of the Lacy Hotel. Since its construction in 1925, this building has been known by several different names, including Smoot-Curtis and Morris. It housed drugstores and an optical store and is now an office building.

* The Hickory Street Office Building, located at the southwest corner, was constructed in 1915 as the McClurkan Build­ing. It replaced the ornate Downhower Block. For many years, the McClurkan Building was the home of the Russell’s Department Store.

Courtesy photos/Denton County Museums

1876

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During the mid-20th century, the Square became a mix of locally owned and chain stores. Duke & Ayers, Bealls and J.C. Penney were a few of the national chains that occupied the old buildings.

As more residents began driving, parking became an increasing problem on the Square. By 1960, grocery stores had disappeared from the Square, choosing to build a couple of blocks away where parking was more ample. After the Denton Center was built on University Drive, more businesses moved from the Square. Many of the chain stores left the Square after the opening of the Golden Triangle Mall in 1980.

Despite competition from other areas of town, the downtown Square continued to thrive. Three businesses, McNeill’s Furniture & Appliance, Thomas’ Ethan Allen Home In­teriors and McBride Music and Pawn, have operated in their current locations since the 1960s. McNeill’s has been in business since the 1930s. Several other businesses on the Square have been operating for 20 years or more.

In a way, the stores on the Square have returned to their roots of locally owned businesses. As they could 150 years ago, Denton residents can venture to the Square to get legal advice, buy furniture, shop for clothing, grab a bite to eat and get a drink.

KIM CUPIT is curator of collections for the Denton County Museums. She can be reached at 940-349-2853 or kim.cupit@dentoncounty.com .

What: Lecture by Kim Cupit, “What Was Where: The History of the Denton Square”

When: 12:15 p.m. Friday

Where: Commissioners Courtroom at the Courthouse on the Square