Students on today’s University of North Texas campus join campus organizations in large numbers. These groups include fraternities, sororities, academic-focused groups, and intermural sports, among other groups. In the early days of the university, groups included club sports, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and groups formed around music performances. An early array of clubs were the county clubs. Every student was immediately a member of the club for their home county. If the number of students from a specific county was not high enough to form a county club, then the counties formed a regional club, such as the West Texas Club.

“Old friends like old books are the ones we love most, and these friends are usually the ones whom we have loved from childhood – those from ‘home.’ When we enter college, we make new acquaintances, we form new friendships, but there is no tie that binds our hearts like the home ties. This fact we recognize in our county clubs. “ – 1923 Yucca

Documentation for county clubs first shows up in the 1911 school yearbook, the Yucca, with the West Texas Club. In 1912, the clubs included the following counties, Van Zandt, Collin, Ellis, Hill, and Wise. In 1913, Parker, Dallas, and Tarrant Counties joined the expanding list of clubs.

The clubs often had their own colors, flowers, and mottos. Palo-Pinto County Club’s motto was “Let us fail in trying to do something rather than sit still and do nothing.” West Texas Counties Club’s motto was “To give everyone the glad hand and smile to beat the band.” They chose the sunflower and brown and gold as the club’s colors. Collin County did not list a motto, but the Black-eyed Susan was their flower, and turquoise and gold were their colors.

Clubs elected officers and a reporter, who was expected to correspond with newspapers in the county/counties, as well as keep in touch with former members. The reporters became members of the Scribes Club, one of the largest literary organizations on campus.

Not all county clubs were active, something the students recognized. However, many enjoyed the social life and support these clubs provided students. Their activities included sunrise breakfasts, parties, athletic games, and picnics. Members also helped organize conferences, Re-Assembly Week (when ex-student information was updated and the alumni welcomed back on campus), and later Homecoming activities.

Many members went on to have prominent careers. As a student, Ben Wooten was a member of the Pine Burr Club, made up of students from Panola, Rusk, and Shelby counties. Wooten later became a banker and then served as the chair of the North Texas Board of Regents. W. A. (William Alfred) Meacham was the Tarrant County Club president. He went on to have a career as an educator in Fort Worth. His efforts were honored by having a school named after him.  C. A. Bridges was the president of the Cooke-Grayson County Club. He would become a faculty member at North Texas and write the History of Denton. A. O. Calhoun was the president of the Denton County Club. He had a career in education, becoming the first principal of Denton High. He would be recognized by having his name placed on the Calhoun Middle School.

After World War II, the focus of the school broadened. The concentration on teacher training expanded to embrace diverse majors and career options for the students. County clubs were slowly replaced by organizations that focused on the future employment of each club’s members. One of the last recorded county clubs was Jefferson and Jack Counties Club which was mentioned in the school newspaper, the Campus Chat, in 1951.

The 1915 Dallas County Club

The 1915 West Texas Club

The Pine Burr Club drew members from Rusk, Shelby, Panola, and Nacogdoches Counties in 1923 [1923 Yucca]

The 1920 Van Zandt County Club

The 1920 Cooke-Grayson County Club had C. A. Bridges as a member. He is seated second from the left.

Collin County Club members had their individual photographs in the 1932 Yucca.

In 1939 the name of the Van Zandt County Club was changed to the Free State Club. An explanation of the name change was published in the 1941 Yucca.