Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Denton

by Misti Day

A metroplex is more than just the sum of its parts. Or is it? To dive into the true character of Dallas/Fort Worth, here we present another segment in a photo series featuring the down towns, old(e) towns and city centers that feed into Dallas/Fort Worth. Each city brings its own character that, together, make D/FW such a special place to live. So keep an eye out for us, we will hit your neighborhood downtown soon. The metroplex, however, is a very large place. To tell its story through only a few pairs of eyes (our staff photographers and our new awesome photo interns, Rachael Ellis and Misti Day) wouldn't do it justice. If you have photos of your area city center, send them to our Flickr group and tag them Downtown Your City's Name and we will feature them in the segment on your city.

Denton was established in 1857 because the county needed a county seat. Its namesake is John B. Denton, preacher, lawyer and Texas Militia Captain. It is now home to North Texas' largest university, UNT, as well as TWU and prides itself on being culturally diverse. Fry Street, a prior strip of cultural type venues (meaning bars, venues and tattoo shops), was a cultural center of Denton until recently. A block of the strip however was bought in '06 and is in the process of redevelopment into "Fry Street Village" which will probably be lame in comparison to the original strip. Most of the businesses have been closed as a result of the redevelopment. Denton also has a bustling music scene, which is partly due to the fact that UNT is one of the top music schools in the country (particularly in music education and jazz).

Nicknames: Little D, Redbud Capital of Texas and apparently Denton boasts the motto "North of Ordinary."

Note: The first image is a photo gallery with all the images, so you can either click through the gallery or scroll.

• Fort Worth
• Arlington
• Lewisville
• Grapevine
• Carrollton
• McKinney
• Plano

Laura Seewoester contributed to this story