The City's Namesake?

A In 1902, Otis Brown and J.O. Schulze were partners in the purchase of an 80-acre tract of land, just west of Dallas, Texas. Their intent was to divide the land into lots for sale. Brown, as the rodman on a railroad survey crew, relied on Schulze, the survey chief, to do the engineering layout as well as make the business decisions. Schulze had developed similar tracts for the railroad prior to Brown joining the crew.

The streets on the layout were named by Schulze for states in which the men had connections, as well as for the man whose home they stayed in and from whom the land was purchased, Henry Britain.

Schulze and Brown created a list of potential names for their future town. The names were widely discussed as both the railroads and post office departments had to be satisfied that their selection did not duplicate any existing town name. Determination was a lengthy process in 1902.

Netta Barcus, who Brown met at the Britain house and married, gets the credit for including the name of "Irving" on Brown's list of candidates. Netta was a schoolteacher whose favorite author was Washington Irving. Luckily, Schulze was a graduate engineer from the Unversity of Iowa and a member of the Washington Irving Literary Society, so he also liked the name.

In later years, both Brown and Schulze would claim the town of Irving was not named for anything in particular. However, statements from the men's wives dispute this claim, as do statements from a number of other descendants. It is likely that the men saw disadvantages to selling lots in a social climate where the name of an "elitist northern author" might not be appreciated.

After 94 years of discussion and ambiguity, the Irving City Council adopted an ordinance on Oct. 22, 1998 acknowledging sufficient evidence existed to believe that Washington Irving was recognized in the founders' planning process. Further it was recognized that considerable benefits would accrue to the city and its residents through an association with Washington.