Irving (pronounced 'er-ving') is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 191,615; the 2006 estimate was 201,927 according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and 196,084 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated by the U.S. Census Bureau and colloquially referred to as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Irving contains the Las Colinas area, which was one of the first master-planned developments in the United States and once the largest mixed-use development in the Southwest with a land area of more than 12,000 acres (49 km²). Las Colinas includes the Mustangs at Las Colinas, which is the largest equestrian sculpture in the world. A 40-acre tract in Las Colinas is also under development to become the site of the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, which is expected to be completed in November 2010.

Several large businesses have headquarters in Irving, including Chuck E. Cheese's, Commercial Metals, ExxonMobil, Gruma, Kimberly-Clark, Michaels Stores, National Care Network, Omni Hotels, Southern Star Concrete, Inc., Xero Hour, Zale Corporation, Fluor Corporation, NCH Corporation, and LXI Enterprise Storage. The city is also home to the national headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America. The Dallas Cowboys play at Texas Stadium in Irving until a new stadium is finished in Arlington, Texas, in 2009. The city plans to demolish the old stadium to build an extensive mixed-use project that spans State Highway 114. The lead developer is Forest City Enterprises, which is rehabilitating the old Mercantile complex in downtown Dallas into a Rockefeller Center-style mixed-use project.

Part of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which serves the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, is inside the city limits of Irving.

History

Irving was founded in 1903 by J.O. "Otto" Schulze and Otis Brown. It is believed that literary author Washington Irving was a favorite of Netta Barcus Brown, and consequently the name of the townsite, Irving, was chosen. Irving originally began in 1889 as an area called Gorbit, and in 1894 the name changed to Kit. Irving was incorporated April 14, 1914, with Otis Brown as the first mayor.

By the late nineteenth century the Irving area was the site of churches, two cotton gins, a blacksmith shop and a general store. The Irving district public school system dates back to the 1909 establishment of Kit and Lively schools. Population growth was slow and sometimes halting, with only 357 residents in 1925, but a significant increase began in the 1930s.

By the early 1960s the city had a population of approximately 45,000. A number of manufacturing plants operated in Irving, along with transportation, retail and financial businesses. The University of Dallas in Irving opened in 1956, and Texas Stadium was completed in 1971 as the home field of the Dallas Cowboys.

Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashed in Irving on August 2, 1985.

Irving's population reached 155,037 in 1990 and is currently (2006) estimated at 201,927. Former Irving City Council member Mayor Herbert Gears was elected to a three-year term in June, 2005 and re-elected in May, 2008 defeating Roland Jeter and Rigo Reza.

Joseph Rice recorded the history of Irving in his 1989 book, Irving: A Texas Odyssey (Northridge, California: Windsor Publications ISBN 978-0897813006). Rice explored Irving's past and culture in his treatment of the city.

Geography

Irving is located at (32.847128, -96.966255).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 67.7 square miles (175.3 km²), of which, 67.2 square miles (174.1 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²) of it (0.65%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 191,615 people, 76,241 households, and 46,202 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,850.2 people per square mile (1,100.4/km²). There were 80,293 housing units at an average density of 1,194.3/sq mi (461.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 64.2% White, 10.2% African American, 0.7% Native American, 8.24% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 13.4% from other races, and 3.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31.2% of the population.

There were 76,241 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 39.4% from 25 to 44, 17.4% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,956, and the median income for a family was $50,172. Males had a median income of $35,852 versus $30,420 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,419. About 8.0% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Most of Irving is served by the Irving Independent School District (IISD). Other portions are served by the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD), and Coppell Independent School District (CISD).

The major high schools serving the Irving area are:

• Irving High School (IISD)
• The Academy of Irving ISD (IISD)
• MacArthur High School (IISD)
• Nimitz High School (IISD)
• Ranchview High School (CFBISD)

The North Hills Preparatory, an Uplift Education public charter school, is also located in Irving.

Private schools

Irving is home to Cistercian Preparatory School, a university-preparatory school for boys, grades 5 through 12, and The Highlands School, a university-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Two Catholic Pre-K through 8th grade schools, St. Luke's and Holy Family of Nazareth, are also located in Irving.

Colleges and universities

The city is the site of the University of Dallas and North Lake College, a campus of the Dallas County Community College District. Both University of Phoenix and DeVry University have a campus in Irving, as well.

Sports

Irving is the location of Texas Stadium, the home park of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, though the team will soon be moving to a new stadium in Arlington, Texas. Irving Independent School District (IISD) high schools play football and other sports at Irving Schools Stadium. Irving sponsors a citywide high-school age ice hockey team, the Irving Wolfpack of the D/FW Junior Varsity GOLD league. Also, in the spring, the Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas hosts the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, an annual PGA Tour event.

Transportation

Irving is traversed by numerous highways. The Airport Freeway, SH 183, runs east-west in the center of the city, while LBJ Freeway or I-635 crosses the northern edge of the city in the same direction. John Carpenter Freeway, SH 114, and the PGB Turnpike create an X running northwest-to-southeast and southwest-to-northeast respectively. The Las Colinas area is centered near the intersection of 114 and the PGBT.

Irving is one of 13 member-cities of the Dallas region's transit agency, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Currently, Irving is served by numerous bus routes and has 2 stops along the Trinity Railway Express route. In addition, DART plans to construct a light rail corridor through Irving. The new rail will carry the Orange line which when fully built out will run from DFW airport to LBJ/Central station. This will connect northern Irving with the Dallas CBD through rail (it is already served by bus). No federal support has been secured and the cost justification is likely to be a tough sale due to the fact that the portion of SH 114 that parallels the line is relatively uncongested.

Notable current and former residents

• Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
• James Dickens, politician
• Frank Beard, drummer for musical group ZZ Top
• Jim Beaver, actor/writer
• Peter MacNicol, actor
• Brian Bosworth, professional football player
• William Reddington Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard
• Kerry Wood, professional baseball player
• Akin Ayodele, professional football player
• Tyson Thompson, professional football player
• Demarcus Faggins, professional football player
• Carrie Barton, Olympic synchronized swimmer
• Michael Huff, professional football player
• Gentleman Chris Adams, British-born pro wrestler (d. 2001)
• Demi Lovato, actress/singer
• Selena Gomez, actress
• Jeremy Wariner, 400m Olympic sprinter

Sister cities

• Espoo, Finland
• Boulogne-Billancourt, France
• Marino, Italy
• Leon, Mexico
• Darkhan, Mongolia

References

External links

• City of Irving
• Irving Convention & Visitors Center
• Historic Images from the Irving Archives, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• Irving Archives Digital Collections