Dallas County, Texas
Irving is home to 18 official Texas Historical Commission markers — each one telling a piece of the city’s story. Browse the markers below, then find them on the map and discover more nearby with RoadHistorical.
Burial plot was begun in 1868, when a woman and her daughter, whose names have been lost, were interred on the land of Seveir Smalley, a local landowner. In 1874, Edmund D. Sowers (1826 - 1909) and his wife, Freelove,…
View on map ↗Permanent settlement in this part of Dallas County began before the Civil War with the establishment of small farming communities and supply centers. In the early years of the 20th century, while working on the…
View on map ↗In 1912 Charles P. Schulze (1877 - 1957) contracted with builder A. Fred Joffre to construct this one-story cypress-clad bungalow as a residence for himself and his wife, Virginia Tucker (1886 - 1966). Schulze, who…
View on map ↗Church of Christ worship services were being held in this area as early as 1890. In 1903, a sanctuary was completed on land donated by the town's founders, and the congregation adopted the name South Delaware Church of…
View on map ↗Area Catholic services date from the 1860s, when mass was held in private homes. The Mission of St. Luke was established in 1902, and met temporarily in the Lively School building northeast of original Irving. Oral…
View on map ↗William Haley (1831 - 1908) and his wife Lucinda Catherine (1834 - 1875) came to Texas from Missouri in 1857. They established a farm in this area and later operated a general store. When Lucinda Haley died in 1875, a…
View on map ↗When the town of Irving was founded in 1903, developers Julius Otto Schulze and Otis Brown set aside parcels of land for the Baptist, Church of Christ, and Catholic denominations. The new town grew steadily, and by…
View on map ↗The Trinity River has played an important part in the history of Dallas County. Early navigation projects were instrumental in the area's economic development. Heavy rains often caused the river to overflow its banks…
View on map ↗(1854 - 1930) Mississippi native D. W. Gilbert came to Texas in 1874. Graduated from Missouri Medical College in 1881, he began his practice in Euless and Grapevine. In 1884 he moved to Sowers, purchased 1500 acres of…
View on map ↗One of Irving's best known early builders, A. Fred Joffre, and his wife built this airplane bungalow in 1919 in the original Irving townsite. Their daughter sold the home in 1936. Pioneer doctor Franklin Monroe Gilbert…
View on map ↗African Americans came to this area as slaves of white settlers such as William Haley and William Borah before 1845. The land around this site was deeded to early white settler Chilton Smith in 1851. After the Civil…
View on map ↗Settlers began arriving in this area, once a part of Robertson’s Colony, in the 1850s. Early families included the Casters, Borahs, Sowers and Haleys. Following the Civil War, freedmen moved to the area, and friends and…
View on map ↗Virginia natives John W. and Jestine Gorbit had a farm in this area by 1850. A settlement known as Gorbit grew up around it and became a stop on a pre-Civil War postal route. In 1855, Jonathan Story moved here from…
View on map ↗Site of the Dr. D. W. Gilbert Homestead Mississippi native Daniel Webster "D.W." Gilbert (1854-1930) was one of three brothers who became Texas doctors. At age 20, he joined his brother, Franklin Monroe Gilbert, in…
View on map ↗By 1856, Edmund D. and Freelove Sowers, who came to Texas from Illinois, owned land in this vicinity. Along with their neighbors, including Jacob and Henry Caster, and William and Lucinda Haley, they farmed, hunted game…
View on map ↗Attracted to the fertile land along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, settlers first came to this area in the mid-19th century. William and Virginia Smith, of Pennsylvania, arrived in 1879. Soon thereafter, Charles and…
View on map ↗(1887-1982) Franklin M. Gilbert was a teacher and principal before attending medical school at the University of Texas in Galveston. He interned in New York, where he met nurse Dorothy Bald Brandon (1901-1990), who…
View on map ↗Settlers came to this area near the Elm and west forks of the Trinity River in the mid-1800s. Isaac Henry “Ike” Story built a grocery store in what became the community of Gorbit (also known by similar spellings). Ike…
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