Denison

Sister cities

• Cognac

History

Denison was founded in 1872 in conjunction with the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (MKT) or "Katy" depot. It was named after wealthy Katy vice president George Denison. Because the town was established close to where the MKT crossed the Red River (both important conduits of transportation in the industrial era), it came to be an important commercial center in the 19th-century American West. In 1875, Doc Holliday had offices in Denison. During the phylloxera epidemic of the mid-19th century, which destroyed the vast majority of wine grapes in Europe, Denison horticulturalist T.V. Munson pioneered methods in creating phylloxera-resistant vines, and earned induction into the French Legion of Honor, as well as sister city status for Denison and Cognac, France. In 1901, the first electric "Interurban" railway in Texas, the Denison and Sherman Railway, was completed between Denison and Sherman. In 1915, Kentucky-based evangelist Mordecai Ham held a revival meeting in Denison, which resulted in 1,100 professions of faith in Jesus Christ. Denison played host to 20th-century notables such as the Marx Brothers and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was born on October 14, 1890, in Denison.

Geography

Denison is located in northeastern Grayson County, with the city limits extending north to the Red River, which forms the Oklahoma state line. It is bordered to the south by the city of Sherman; the city centers are apart. According to the United States Census Bureau, Denison has a total area of , of which , or 1.94%, is covered by water. Denison Dam, which forms Lake Texoma on the Red River, is north of Denison. The lake is in the center of the Texoma region, encompassing parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Denison has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Köppen climate classification).

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,532
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  7,240
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,851
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  6,185
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,183
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,742
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,341
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,144

Most recent

• M 3.12 — 2026-02-15
  2 km WNW of Springer, Oklahoma
• M 3.08 — 2024-08-29
  10 km SW of Lehigh, Oklahoma
• M 2.51 — 2023-09-25
  10 km S of Wilson, Oklahoma
• M 2.9 — 2023-07-11
  10 km S of Wilson, Oklahoma
• M 2.51 — 2022-07-20
  9 km WSW of Lebanon, Oklahoma
• M 2.53 — 2021-12-20
  14 km ENE of Leon, Oklahoma