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.

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

Virginia Tucker Schulze on horseback at a ranch in Pyote, Texas. Virginia was the wife of C. P. Schulze, Sr. The Schulze family owned the Irving Lumber Company form it inception in 1903 until it closed during the 1980s. Back of photo reads: "My first ride to Brown's tank, August 1910."

Three women on horseback. Virginia Tucker Schulze with friends at a ranch in Pyote, Texas. Back of photo reads: “First ride to Brown tank, Madeline, Henrietta and Virginia.” Virginia Schulze was married to C. P. Schulze, Sr. The Schulze family owned Irving Lumber Company from the town's inception in 1903 until the 1980s.

Photograph of the West Fork of the Trinity River seen at flood stage. A group of people are standing at the water's edge looking out over the water.

Main Street, Irving, Texas, c. 1908. West side of Main St. between First St. (Irving Blvd.) and Second St.

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.

Home of W. D. Lucas and family at 127 S. Hastings. The house was built in 1907. W. D. Lucas was the proprietor of a general merchandise store from 1906 until his death in 1931.

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.

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

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.

Fannie Hicks ran a millinery store on Main Street during Irving's early years. She later married T. C. Haley, the proprietor of another Main Street business. In 1909, she closed her store.

The Sowers School served the Sowers community, located about a mile west of Irving, near the present-day intersection of Pioneer and Belt Line Road. The teachers pictured are John Roberts (later Dr. John Roberts) and Miss Mary Ruth Wespey. The school was one large room, and the boys carried in drinking water from a well a quarter of a mile away. Classes were held from 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. Top row: Allie Lanotte, Etta Eaton, unknown, Bess Kimble, Sally Haley, Ethel Barton, unknown, Ruby Slater, Nancy Slater, Mary Ruth Wespey, Ethel Tompkins, Jeanie Barton, John Roberts, unknown, Mabel Gilbert, Sam Mitchell, unknown, Thurston Jernigan, Hayde Gilbert, Kimble, Clay Gilbert, Tom Taylor, and Charlie Wilson Middle row: Nora Lusk, unknown, Marie Lanotte, Claudie Barton, Lillie Williams, Stella Slater, Minnie Moore, Moore, Jettie Rucker, Sitton, George Wilson, unknown, Fannie Slater, Grider Taylor, N. Jernigan, Bill Bietendorf, Paul Gilbert (with white glove), Ed Avrett, Jess Moore, Oscar Tompkins, Allen Avrett, Willie Smith, Arthur Smith, Carrie Lusk, Pauline Isadore, Ernestine Isadore, and Alice Lusk Bottom row: Most are unidentified, but some are Lawrence Ranft, Sidney Ranft, Dan Barton, Dan Gilbert, Floyd Eaton, Winnie Eaton, Adolph Bietendorf (with bat), W.B. “Bill” Gilbert (holding catcher’s …

William Smith, area pioneer, built this house in the Union Bower community in 1888. It stood along what would become Maryland Street in Irving until it was torn down in the 1980s. Seen in this 1906 photo are L. G. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Hood, Mrs. Mattie Smith, Bert Smith, Mrs. Jennie Smith, William Hood, and Frank and Charlie Voirin.

This photo, made in 1906, shows a side view of the William Smith home in the Union Bower community. The house was built in 1888.

Train at the Irving Depot. Completed in 1903, the site of the Chicago Rock Island & Gulf railroad depot also served as the location of the 1903 lot sale that founded Irving.

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.

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.

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 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.