Editing Denton, Texas (section)

=== Post–Civil War ===
Denton [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] in 1866; its first mayor was J.B. Sawyer.<ref name="tsha-city">{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hed05 |work=[[Handbook of Texas Online]] |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |title=Denton, Texas |access-date=2009-10-21 |last=Odom |first=E. Dale}}</ref> As the city expanded beyond its original boundaries (which extended half a mile in every direction from center of the public square<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/31212339/ | title=Denton Record-Chronicle from Denton, Texas on July 4, 1976 · Page 42| date=July 4, 1976}}</ref>), it became an agricultural trade center for the mill and cottage industries. The arrival of the [[Texas and Pacific Railway]] in 1881 gave Denton its first rail connection and brought an influx of people to the area.<ref name="tsha-city" /> North Texas Normal College, now the [[University of North Texas]], was established in 1890, and the Girls' Industrial College, now [[Texas Woman's University]], was founded in 1901. As the universities increased in size, their impact on Denton's economy and culture increased.<ref name="tsha-city" /> Electricity came to Denton in 1905 with the creation of Denton Municipal Electric.