Ponder was at the intersection of Farm roads 156 and 2449 and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway tracks, in western Denton County. Settlers had reached the area by the 1850′;s. One of the first to arrive was Silas Christal, who settled just west of the site of future Ponder, where he built an oxen-powered gristmill. In 1886 the Santa Fe purchased land for a railroad called the community Gerald. In 1889, it was discovered that another Texas town was called Gerald, the town was renamed Ponder, in honor of W. A. Ponder, a prosperous landowner and Denton banker. By the 1920’s Ponder had a population of eighty-four and sixteen businesses. In the early 1920’s a twelve-grade brick school was constructed, and in 1935 it had 186 students and seven teachers.