Denton, Callahan County, Texas

Denton is an unincorporated community in Callahan County, in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, only 6 people lived in the community in 2000. It is located within the Abilene metropolitan area.

History
Before the mid-1860s, the Denton area was just open range. The majority of the land was owned by the state and railroad. The community was named for early settler G.W. Denton, who owned the largest private plot of land here and patented his acreage in 1854. A post office was established at Denton in 1916. It also had a blacksmith shop, a gristmill, and a cotton gin that same year. Denton declined in the 1920s, which other small communities around the area also experienced. The community had one business and 15 residents in 1933. The population grew to 25 in the mid-1940s. It had two churches, one business, and a cemetery in the 1970s. It continued to be listed as a community in 1990. Only six people lived in the community in 2000.

On May 31, 1962, an F3 tornado struck Denton. It demolished four homes near Denton during the night. A man was critically injured when his light (1600 lbs) foreign car was hurled about 400 yd off a highway and into a plowed, water-soaked field without touching the ground. Another man sustained severe head lacerations when the home he and five other people were in collapsed. Despite the destruction it caused, no monetary damage value was given for this tornado.

Geography
Denton is located on Texas State Highway 36, 12 mi southwest of Baird in western Callahan County. It is also on Farm to Market Road 604.

Education
In April 1899, Worth Williams and six other men petitioned for a school district in the community. Today, the community is served by the Clyde Consolidated Independent School District.