200-204 W Oak St - Denton County Courthouse Square Historic District - Denton, TX
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member QuarrellaDeVil
N 33° 12.941 W 097° 08.029
14S E 673917 N 3676750
The building at 200-204 W Oak St is a contributing building in the Denton County Courthouse Square Historic District. Long home to Ethan Allen Furniture, in recent days it has shifted gears, but it is still used for commercial purposes.
Waymark Code: WMX86Q
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/11/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
Views: 4

There is a bit of confusion due to an error in the National Register's Continuation Sheet (see link to narrative). Properly speaking, this building's address is 200-204 W Oak St, but on the table entitled "Evaluation of Historic Resources Within the Denton County Courthouse Historic District," it is erroneously labeled as "200-204 N Elm St." This side of Elm Street has odd numbers, and this building is even. A quick Google search will turn up the addresses of the current tenants as JT Clothiers and Captiva Salon and Spa as being on W Oak St, at 200 and 204, respectively.

The Continuation Sheet does not focus on this building as it does for several other key buildings in the district, such as the Evers and Scripture buildings. However, it does note that the building dates back to 1885, with modifications in 1931 and the 1980s, and a photo (Figure 8) notes that this was the first site of Texas Normal College, known today as the University of North Texas. A Texas Historical Marker was placed here in 1965, when the college was still called "Texas State University," and it elaborates a bit:

At this site, on the second floor of a hardware store, 70 students enrolled for the first session of Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute, September 16, 1890. The students included 28 Creeks from Indian Territory. The City of Denton provided classrooms for the faculty of five under president Joshua C. Chilton, an educator with previous experience and training in Ohio and Indiana.

In 1891, the school moved to a building at the present site of North Texas State University.

This marker dedicated on 75th anniversary of the university.
Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Denton County Courthouse Square Historic District

Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]

Address:
200-204 W Oak St, Denton, TX 76201


How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below)

Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]

NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed

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