FOUNDING | EARLY FOUNDERS | IRVING - THE EARLY YEARS | MODERN IRVING | INSIDE IRVING

FoundingThe region where Irving was founded was known as the Three Forks Region, taking its name from the three forks of which famed Texas river?
Answer: Trinity River

What are the names of the three forks and where are they located?
Answer: West Fork, Irving; East Fork, Dallas; and Clear Fork, Fort Worth.

This river was discovered by Spanish General Alonso de Leon in 1690, two days before Trinity Sunday. What was its Spanish name?
Answer: La Santisima Trinidad.

Railroads were the single most determining factor in the survival of pioneer towns. When did the railroad first come to Irving?
Answer : 1903, the year Irving was established.

Irving founders, J.O. "Otto" Schulze and Otis Brown came to the Three Forks Region as part of what railroad survey team?
Answer: Rock Island Railroad

What was the name of the farmer from whom Schulze and Brown bought the land on which Irving was founded?
Answer: They bought 80.21 acres from Henry Britain, one of the early pioneers in the area. The ages of Schulze and brown at the time were 27 and 23, respectively. The selling price was $2,169.30, approximately $27 per acre.

Which Irving founder left the town shortly after he helped to establish it? Why did he leave?
Answer: J.O. Schulze. He accompanied his wife to his native Iowa in 1904, hoping to save the lives of his wife, who had contracted malaria, and his unborn son. His son did not survive. He would not live in Irving again until after his wife's death, although he did continue to own property in the town. Before his death on October 26, 1961, he saw Irving become the fastest growing city in Texas.

Brown and Schulze donated land for Irving's early churches in 1904. They were the First Baptist, Delaware Street Church of Christ and St. Luke's Catholic Church. Both the Delaware Street Church and St. Luke's were built by July 1904. The First Baptist Church would not be built until 1906. What congregation preceded the establishment of Irving's first churches?
Answer: The Bear Creek Missionary Baptist Church, established May 15, 1853, with a congregation of nine freed slaves. Now located at 1930 Gateway Drive, it is called First Baptist Church-Las Colinas.

From which famous American writer did Irving take its name? What is his most well-known work?
Answer: Washington Irving, considered a literary giant of the 19th century; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

What was Irving's first business?Answer: A lumberyard, opened in 1904 and owned by J. O. Schulze.

In its heyday, Eagle Ford, a pioneer community located in present-day Irving, was known for its gamblers, dance hall girls and gunfighters. What was the nickname for Eagle Ford? (Hint: Today, the same moniker is widely used for one of Irving's neighboring cities.)
Answer: "Cowtown"

The oldest known black community, founded by former slaves, in Dallas County is located in Irving. What is its name?
Answer: Bear Creek

Who was the area's first black landowner?
Answer: Jim Green, a former slave, bought land near Bear Creek in the 1850s. In the 1880s, Jim Green established a mission and helped build a one-room freedom school that later held as many as 80 students at a time. By 1900, nine black families owned land in Bear Creek.

The first Methodist church in Irving was built at what is now the intersection of Grauwyler Road and North Union Bower. When it burned, some of the original timber from the original church was used in the second building. What popular Irving restaurant now occupies that building?
Answer: Harvey's Barbecue

From its founding in 1903 until its incorporation in 1914, government and law enforcement in the village was under Dallas County and the State of Texas. During this period, Irving citizens relied on what three elements to determine justice in their town?
Answer: State law, county law and common sense. There were no attorneys.

When was Irving's first jail built?
Answer: 1932, although very few, if any, Irving suspects were ever jailed prior to the establishment of the Irving Police Department in 1942.

What was Big Red?
Answer: Irving Independent School District's first schoolhouse, built in 1913.

What was the name of Irving's first newspaper?
Answer: Irving Index.

What was the nickname of Irving's railroad depot?
Murphy's Mansion, after John Alexander Jones Murphy, the man who finished building the depot that was started in 1903.

Who established the first blacksmith shop in Irving?
George Clark in 1906. He was appointed rural letter carrier in 1911, earning a salary of $720 a year. For nearly 27 years he carried the mail, first by horse-cart and, after 1920, by Model T Ford.

Irving was incorporated in 1914 by a 27-16 vote. Otis brown was elected mayor, and George Clark and G.C. Moulard were elected commissioners. The first laws passed by the commissioners concerned sanitation and order. What were they?
Answer: The first ordinance forbade livestock from running at large, the obstruction of sidewalks, and playing baseball in the streets. The latter provision was ignored by generations of children in the town.

During Irving's early days, cotton was "king" throughout Texas. However, Irving's agricultural bent took another direction. What was it?
Answer: From the 1910s until the 1950s, Irving was the truck-farming, poultry and dairy center of the D/FW area. In 1931, there were more dairy herds in Irving than any other part of the county. They produced more than 15,000 gallons of milk daily, with dozens of trucks carrying the milk primarily to Dallas.

What was the signal that notified Irving citizens of the end of World War I?
Answer: A light on top of the Magnolia Building in Dallas. When it was lit, Otis brown fired his shotgun, and for an hour Irving citizens celebrated by firing guns, exploding fireworks and shouting.

How were the first volunteer firefighters notified of any emergency?
The Irving Fire Department was organized in 1926 and manned solely by volunteers until 1953. Six shots from a pistol called volunteers to the station for a fire.

Irving's first library opened under the guidance of whom? With how many books? In what building?
Answer: Esther Hurwitz began Irving's first library in a furniture store, with only 50 books. The first library building was in Heritage Park, in what is now the Social Security building.

From where were the names for Irving's older streets derived? Give one example.
Answer: Story Road, named for Ike Story, an early settler who owned a famous general store and started a small post office. He later became U.S. Postmaster for his region. It was Story's Aunt Kit for which a section of Irving was originally named "Kit."

What was Irving's first posted speed limit?
Answer: 12 m.p.h., posted in 1919.

What does Irving's city logo symbolize?
Answer: The civic center's location on Irving Boulevard.

Where did the Dallas Cowboys play football before Texas Stadium was constructed?
Answer: Cotton Bowl in Dallas

Construction of Texas Stadium in Irving, home of the Dallas Cowboys, was completed in 1971. However, the first event held at the new stadium was not a football game. What was it?
Answer: A Billy Graham Crusade.

Who scored the first touchdown at Texas Stadium?
Answer: During the first game played at Texas Stadium in October, 1971, running back Duane Thomas scored the first touchdown with a 56-yard ramble two minutes into the opening quarter against the New England Patriots. The Cowboys won the game.

Who was coach of the Dallas Cowboys when its headquarters moved to Irving's Valley Ranch?
Answer: Tom Landry

Texas Stadium was built at a cost of $36 million in 1971. Twenty-five years later, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would sign what famous player for an annual salary of $36 million?
Answer: Deion Sanders

How many cows are depicted in the Marble Cow sculpture on Bluebonnet Hill?
Answer: Five

What is an APT?
Answer: Area Personal Transit, the above-ground people mover that circulates through Las Colinas.

Name a popular site near the intersection of O'Connor Road and Highway 114.
Answer: Las Colinas Flower Clock.

The Mustangs of Las Colinas, a sculpture of nine mustangs galloping across a granite stream at Williams Square, is one of the most popular sites in Irving. What unique feature sets this sculpture apart from other sculptures?
Answer: It is the largest equestrian sculpture in the world.

How many acres are included in the Las Colinas Urban Center? What was the first corporation to relocate to Las Colinas?
Answer: 12,000; Allstate Insurance.

What is the English translation for Las Colinas?
Answer: The Hills.

Who is Robert Glen, and where can you learn more about him?
Answer: The sculptor of the Mustangs of Las Colinas. Learn more about him at the Mustang Sculpture Exhibit.

Irving's Las Colinas area is home to more than 1,000 corporations and 400 corporate headquarters. Name two national and regional headquarters located in Irving.
Answer: Nokia, Verizon, Exxon/Mobil, Zale Corporation, Kimberly Clark, Boy Scouts of America, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Kodak and American Honda.

What do the logos on the Heritage District street signs designate?
Answer: Irving's original depot.

Where can you find scenes of Early Texas Trails?
Answer: DART South Irving Transit Center

The Dallas Communications Complex/Movie Studios at Las Colinas, located in Irving, gave rise to Texas as the "third coast" in film production. Name two films and/or television productions shot at the Studios.
Answer: 13 East, Barney, JFK, Silkwood, RoboCop and Leap of Faith.

Irving's oldest dairy, established in 1857, closed in 1971. Why?
Answer: The land was sold to DFW International Airport.

The EDS Byron Nelson Championship is held every spring at Irving's Four Seasons Resort and Club. This tournament is the largest charity fundraiser on the PGA TOUR and the only PGA TOUR event named after a former pro golfer. What is Byron Nelson's claim to fame in the golf world?
Answer: In 1945, Byron Nelson set records in golf that many believe will never be bested. Nelson played in 30 tournaments that year, and won an incredible 60 percent of those tournaments. Of the 18 he won that year, he won 11 consecutively.

What are the names of the theaters in the Irving Arts Center? For whom are they named?
Answer: Carpenter and Dupree; after Ben Carpenter and Betty Dupree Carpenter.

What facility previously occupied the Irving Arts Center site?
Answer: Jap Lee Airport.

How many beds did Irving Community Hospital originally have?
Answer: 100

How many doctors have been Irving mayors?
Answer: Four; Dr. Bob Pierce, Dr. Paul Laird, Dr. John Haley and Dr. Franklin Monroe Gilbert.

How are Irving's high schools named? Junior highs? Elementary schools?
Answer: National heroes, Texas heroes and local heroes, respectively.

Irving ISD 18th elementary school was named after FM Gilbert. What was his profession?
Answer: Medical doctor; his son Dr. Clay Gilbert continues to live in Irving.

Name a company that served as an anchor for original downtown Irving.
Answer: Texas Commerce Bank, which was established in 1906 as Irving State Bank.

What do bent trees signify? At how many locations can these be found in Irving?
Answer: Indian markers. Two.

Why is Irving Boulevard so wide?
Answer: Because of anticipated growth in Irving, which would later require larger capacity throughways.

What is Irving's oldest structure?
Answer: Caster Cabin in Heritage Park.

Name one structure at Heritage Park.
Answer: Original water tower; depot; gazebo, original library, windmill or Caster Cabin.

What purpose (other than the obvious) did Irving's original water tower (now located in Heritage Park) serve?
Answer: Irving's first policeman, George Smith (1940), was notified of an emergency when the switchboard operator blinked the light atop the water tower. When the light flashed, he called in to City Hall for the emergency.

For whom was Grauwyler Road named? (Any one of three will do.)
Answer: Irvingites disagree over the naming and pronunciation of Grauwyler. One traditions says the road was named for country store owner Gar Wheeler. Another says the road was named for a parks worker in Dallas named Gar Wiler. Yet another says the road was named for Johann Jacob Grauwyler, who was born in Basel, Switzerland, and moved to Texas in 1883 to later become a road overseer in Dallas County. He eventually became one of the largest landowners in the area.

For whom was Lake Carolyn named?
Answer: Ben Carpenter's sister, Carolyn Carpenter Williams.

For whom was Williams Square named?
Answer: Carolyn Carpenter Williams (Ben's sister) and her husband Dan.

Name three institutions of higher learning in Irving.
Answer: University of Dallas, North Lake College, DeVry Institute