Advertisement from the Irving Board of Trade, enticing farmers to move to Irving, Texas.

Agnes Sueppel Schulze and a friend sit in a buggy in front of the Schulze home on Hastings Street, Irving, Texas, c. 1904. Agnes Schulze was the wife of Irving's co-founder J. O. Schulze.

C. P. Schulze, Sr., holds a fox puppy. C. P. was a member of a Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway survey crew. The crew worked in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. In Texas, they worked a ten-mile stretch between Dallas and Fort Worth. J. O. Schulze, C. P.'s brother, was crew foreman. J. O. Schulze remained in Texas and co-founded the town of Irving along the tracks in 1903.

Dr. John Haley was one of the Irving area's earliest physicians. The Haley family arrived in the area in the late 1850s. John was born in 1866. He was a teacher for a time, but after his first wife died, he returned to school and then entered the medical profession. He served as Irving's mayor from 1927 until his death in 1932. He is pictured here with his second wife, Anna Good Haley, in 1906.

The Elm school served the farming community know as Elm which was located just north of Irving. Pictured in the back row left to right are: teacher Mrs. Holland, Lee Metker, Mary Farine, Ruth Holt, Lucy Parker, Sadie Watkins, Henry Farine, and Maudie Carroll. Next row: Lucy Farine, John Farine, Gus Story, Clyde Allen, Arthur Farine, Lillian Works, and Lela Toler. Next row: Ora Seat, Bill Metker, Foy Holt, Irene Nichols, Thelma Works, and Ann Carroll. Front row: Howard Parker, Fred Story, Milton Holt, Roy Bailey, and Bertha Farine.

Graham's Mill & Bridge, c. 1902. This bridge was photographed by one of the members of a Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf survey crew as it worked its way through Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Two of the crew members remained behind in Texas and established the town of Irving along the rail line between Dallas and Fort Worth in 1903.

The Union Bower community was settled during the 1880s. It was located about north and east of the town site of Irving, which was founded in 1903. The Reverend W. E. Hawks of Dallas, who had been preaching in the Union Bower area since 1887, directed the building of a church in the community. In 1907, Hawks Chapel Methodist Church opened. In this photo, members of the congregation pose in front of the church.

The home of Henry W. Britain, the rancher who sold eighty acres to J.O. Schulze and Otis Brown for the original Irving townsite. The land sold for $30 an acre. This home was located near Nursery and Perry roads. Further to the south, Britain watered his livestock at the pond near the intersection of Nursery and Irving Blvd. The Britain family came to this area in 1859. Dave, Lee, Eunice, and Henry W. Britain are among those in the photo.

Constructed in May 1904 as the home of Joseph B. Howard and his wife, Susan, it stood on 2.5 acres just south of Irving's city limits. Eugene and May Ann Beaufford bought the property in 1919. They operated a truck farm on the acreage. They later divided the land among their children.

Two men in front of the Irving train depot. The Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway built this depot in 1904.

A lady standing on a porch at the Howard home at 318 Iowa (now O’Connor Rd.), believed to be Irving's oldest existing house, built in 1904.

J. O. Schulze and his wife Agnes Sueppel Schulze in the doorway of their home, c. 1904. J. O. Schulze co-foundef the city of Irving, Texas, in 1903. He married Agnes Sueppel during that same year. Both were natives of Iowa City, Iowa. Due to Agnes's poor health, the couple left Irving and returned to Iowa City in 1905. The man in the center of the doorway is unidentified.

J. O. Schulze, head of a Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway survey crew, at work in his field tent, c. 1902. The survey crew worked in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. In Texas, they worked a ten-mile stretch between Dallas and Fort Worth. Schulze and fellow crew member Otis Brown remained in the area and founded the town of Irving along the tracks between Dallas and Fort Worth in 1903.

J. O. Schulze in suit, overcoat, and derby, c. 1904. J. O. Schulze was co-founder of the town of Irving, Texas, in December of 1903. He had been leader of a Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway survey crew that worked a ten-mile stretch between Dallas and Fort Worth. He and fellow crew member Otis Brown decided to remain in the area, and they established the town of Irving in 1903.

Home of J. O. and Agnes Schulze in Irving, Texas, c. 1904. J. O. Schulze was the co-founder of the city of Irving in 1903. He and his wife built this house in Irving in about 1904. Due to Agnes's poor health, the couple had to return to Iowa City, Iowa in 1905. The house, which stood on the east side of Ohio Street in the first block south of present-day Irving Boulevard, burned in the mid-1980s.

Photograph of J. O. Schulze, the leader of a Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway survey crew, playing with the crew's pet fox, c. 1902. He is sitting on the ground outside of a tent and has the fox in his lap. The crew worked in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. In Texas, they worked a stretch of line between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. J. O. Schulze and Otis Brown, another crew member, remained behind and established the town of Irving along the tracks between Dallas and Fort Worth in 1903.

Jerry and Della Story. When the post office moved from the Kit community to the town of Irving in 1904, Jerry Story served as temporary postmaster.

Lucas and Joffre Store was founded by W. D. "Doug" Lucas and Fred Joffre in 1906 on the west side of Irving's Main Street. Lucas and Joffre split, but W. D. Lucas maintained a store on Main Street until he died in 1931.

The children of E. M. Story. Left to right are: Louis, Myrtle, Clarence, and Jane, 1909. The Story family were some of the first pioneers in northwest Dallas County. They came to the Irving area during the mid-nineteenth century.

E. M. Story house, 1909. The Story family came to the Irving area during the second half of the 19th century. This house was on Britain Road near old downtown Irving. Shown in the picture are: front row: Clarence, Jane, and Myrtle Story; back row: unidentified, E. M. Story, and his wife Kate.

West side of Main Street, Irving, Texas, shortly after the founding of the town in December 1903.

Photograph of a man standing in front of a horse in a field. Behind them, a number of tents are visible, which are part of a survey crew camp.

A man sitting on a horse. The Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf survey crew camp can be seen in the background, c. 1902. The crew worked in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. They worked a ten- mile stretch between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Two of the crew members remained behind and founded the town of Irving along the tracks in 1903.

Unidentified member of the Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway survey crew. The crew worked and ten-mile stretch of track between Dallas and Fort Worth in 1902. Two of the crew members remained behind and founded the town of Irving in 1903.