2024 Irving Visitors Guide
Irving is a relatively new city for one of its size. It was founded in 1903 and it is believed that it was named after the famous American literary author Washington Irving. The City of Irving Texas originally began in 1889 as an area called Gorbit and in 1894 the name changed to Kit, but Irving was incorporated April 14, 1914.
By the late 19th century the Irving area was the site of churches, two cotton gins, a blacksmith shop, and a general store. Population growth was slow and often up and down, with only 357 residents in 1925, though a significant increase was seen starting in the 1930s, and by the ‘60s, the city was home to about 45,000 people.
Staple industries in the city have been manufacturing plants, transportation, retail, and financial firms. Cotton growing, farming, dairy, and poultry production dominated the early portion of the 20th century.
The University of Dallas in Irving opened in 1956, and Texas Stadium was completed in 1971 as the home park of the Dallas Cowboys. Irving’s population reached 155,037 in 1990 and is currently estimated at about 194,547.
Settlers first came to the area beginning in the 1850s and communities such as Sowers, Kit Shady Grove, Union Bower, Finley, Estelle and Bear Creek sprang up around the surrounding areas in the last half of the 20th century, though the city eventually swallowed all of the suburbs surrounding it.
Construction of Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport, partially within Irving, began in the late 1960s. When it opened in 1974, it was the country’s largest airport. The facility, now known as Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, continues to contribute to Irving’s economy.
Demographics
- As of the 2000 census, there were 191,615 people living in Irving.
- The median income for a household in the city was $44,956, and the median income for a family was $50,172.
- Men had a median income of $35,852 versus $30,420 for women.
Community, Recreation, and Attractions
Irving is a city located within Dallas County, Texas, and is in the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan area, which allows for a copious amount of culture, art, and entertainment activity.The entertainment choices in or near Irving cover a huge amount of offerings, capable of satisfying almost any appetite or urge. Activities range from golf and football with the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium, the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars’, to live performances at the 700-seat Carpenter Performance Hall. Additionally, there’s the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and baseball’s Texas Rangers, plus indoor and outdoor soccer, horse racing and other equestrian events and college athletics.
The area includes sculptures, canals, museums, amusement parks, Irving’s quaint downtowns, and the mustangs at Las Colinas, which contains the largest equestrian sculpture in the world, to name a few.
Also, there’s the Irving Zoo, just 20 minutes from downtown, featuring the wild animals of Africa with rhinos and tigers and the Fort Worth Zoo, 40 miles from Irving with 6,000 exotic animals; the Irving Arts Center; the exhibit “Irving: Where Dallas and Fort Worth Meet”, which offers a plethora of information about Irving’s founding and history; dozens of public park facilities, boating, fishing, camping, wildlife tours, biking trails, and hiking, among others.