Denton, Texas in the context of "The Handbook of Texas"

Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was established in 1846. Denton County constitutes part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. In 2007, it was one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States.

Interstate 35E (I-35E), a north–south Interstate Highway, is the eastern half of I-35, where it splits to serve the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. I-35 splits into two branch routes, I-35W and I-35E, at Hillsboro. I-35E travels north for 97 miles (156 km), maintaining I-35's sequence of exit numbers. It travels through Dallas before rejoining with I-35W to reform I-35 in Denton.

During the early years of the Interstate Highway System, branching Interstates with directional suffixes, such as N, S, E, and W, were common nationwide. On every other Interstate nationwide, these directional suffixes have been phased out by redesignating the suffixed route numbers with a loop or spur route number designation (such as I-270 in Maryland, which was once I-70S) or, in some cases, were assigned a different route number (such as I-76, which was once I-80S). In the case of I-35 in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, since neither branch is clearly the main route and both branches return to a unified Interstate beyond the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has allowed the suffixes of E and W in Texas to remain to the present day. I-35 also splits into I-35E and I-35W in Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, for similar reasons as the I-35 split in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.

The term Cross Timbers, also known as Ecoregion 29, Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains, is used to describe a strip of land in the United States that runs from southeastern Kansas across Central Oklahoma to Central Texas. Made up of a mix of prairie, savanna, and woodland, it forms part of the boundary between the more heavily forested eastern country and the almost treeless Great Plains, and also marks the western habitat limit of many mammals and insects.

No major metropolitan areas lie wholly within the Cross Timbers, although roughly the western half of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex does, including the cities of Fort Worth, Denton, Arlington, and Weatherford. The western suburbs of the Tulsa metropolitan area and the northeastern suburbs of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area also lie within this area. The main highways that cross the region are I-35 and I-35W going north to south (although they tend to skirt the Cross Timbers' eastern fringe south of Fort Worth), and both I-40 and I-44 going east to west. Numerous U.S. Highways also cross the area. I-35 means a portion of Austin and Travis County is also included in the Cross Timbers.

John B. Denton (July 28, 1806 – May 24, 1841) also shown in secondary references as John Bunard Denton and John Bunyan Denton, was a Methodist minister, lawyer, soldier, and political candidate for whom both Denton County, Texas and the city of Denton, Texas, were named. He converted to Methodism soon after meeting his future wife, Mary Greenlee Stewart, who also taught him how to read and write. He later became a captain and was known for his battles against Native Americans. He died in 1841 after the Battle of Village Creek, an attack on a Keechi village in adjacent Tarrant County.

Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major north–south Interstate Highway that runs from Laredo, Texas near the Mexican border to Duluth, Minnesota. In Texas, the highway begins in Laredo and runs north to the Red River north of Gainesville, where it crosses into Oklahoma. Along its route, it passes through the cities of San Antonio, Austin, and Waco before splitting into two branch routes just north of Hillsboro: I-35E heads northeast through Dallas, while I-35W turns northwest to run through Fort Worth. The two branches rejoin in Denton to again form I-35, which continues to the Oklahoma state line. The exit numbers for I-35E maintain the sequence of exit numbers from the southern segment of I-35, and the northern segment of I-35 follows on from the sequence of exit numbers from I-35E. I-35W maintains its own sequence of exit numbers.

In Texas, I-35 runs for just over 503 miles (810 km), which does not include the 85-mile (137 km) segment of I-35W. It does include the 97-mile (156 km) segment of I-35E. Texas contains more miles of the overall length of I-35 than any other state, almost one-third of the entire length.

Interstate 35W (I-35W), a north–south Interstate Highway, is the western half of I-35 where it splits to serve the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. I-35 splits into two branch routes, I-35W and I-35E, at Hillsboro. I-35W runs north for 85.2 miles (137.1 km), carrying its own separate sequence of exit numbers. It runs through Fort Worth before rejoining with I-35E to reform I-35 in Denton. It is the more direct route for long-distance expressway traffic, as is noted on signs on I-35 leading into the I-35W/I-35E splits. During the 1970s, billboards existed on I-35 encouraging travelers to take the faster and shorter I-35W route.

During the early years of the Interstate Highway System, branching Interstates with directional suffixes, such as N, S, E, and W, were common nationwide. On every other Interstate nationwide, these directional suffixes have been phased out by redesignating the suffixed route numbers with a loop or spur route number designation (such as I-270 in Maryland, which was once I-70S) or, in some cases, were assigned a different route number (such as I-76, which was once I-80S). In the case of I-35 in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, since neither branch is clearly the main route and both branches return to a unified Interstate beyond the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, officials at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have allowed the suffixes of E and W in Texas to remain in the present day. I-35 also splits into I-35E and I-35W in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, for similar reasons as the I-35 split in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.