Main Street, Irving, Texas

Main Street, Irving, Texas. . J.O. Schulze and Otis Brown, surveyors with the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway, founded Irving in December 1903 along the railroad tracks and the old Birdville trail. Because Schulze and Brown expected that Main Street would be the center of the town's business activity, they made the street 100 feet wide, considerably wider than the town's other streets. Main Street ran south, perpendicular to the railroad depot, for about three blocks. , As envisioned, most of the early businesses clustered near the intersection of the First Street (now Irving Boulevard) and Main Street (photos #5 and #6). , Growth was slow during the first year, but in the years shortly thereafter, Main Street became Irving's business center. Operations came and went, but several early businesses remained and were bulwarks of Main Street during the town's first decades. The following were some of those businesses: , The Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway depot (#4) served as Irving's railroad station for 62 years. Early on, the railroad and the depot's telegraph office were Irving's connection with the world. The depot was torn down in 1965. , The Irving Hotel (#6) stood at the north end of Main Street. The two-story, frame hotel opened in 1911. Locals knew it as Hamm's hotel, because the Hamm family owned it from 1914 until the mid-1930s. The building stood until 1954. , W.L. Smith's mercantile store (#10) was south of the hotel. After opening in 1904, Smith sold the business to Chaney and W.F. Miller, who founded a hardware and undertaking business, called Miller Brothers, which later became Miller and Duckworth. In 1922, R.V. Leach bought the business and established Leach's Hardware. A hardware store operated from this location until the 1950s. , Irving State Bank (#7), constructed in 1911, anchored the south end of the block for nearly four decades. In 1913, the bank added a second story. Drs. D.W. and F.M. Gilbert practiced there for many years. In 1947, the bank moved to the east side of Main Street. In 1967, a ten-story bank and office tower opened on the south end of the block. The bank tower was demolished in 2001. , A general store and pool hall (#6) opened at the southwest corner of Main and First streets shortly after the founding of the town. Vic Ostrand bought the business in 1908 and later built a two-story brick building on the site. Merchandise was downstairs and the pool table upstairs. By the 1920s, Hooser's Drug had moved in, and in 1932, Irving Drug opened and remained at the location until 1973. The building still stands today. , Doug Lucas owned a general store on Main Street from 1906-1931. Although he moved three times, by 1920 he had settled his business in a two-story brick building (#8) on the northwest corner of Main and Second streets. That building, now only one story, still stands today. , In 1906, Major T.G. Robinson opened a drug store in Irving's first brick building (#3), which stood on the northeast corner of Main and First streets. The Major did business at this location until 1939. , Banner Mercantile stood on the southeast corner of Main and First streets. Established soon after the founding of the town, it operated as a general store for many years. B&H Dry Goods took over from 1932-1951. In 1951, Big State Drug moved in and is still in business today. , Through the years, Irving has undergone tremendous growth, but historic Main Street remains the site of the town's founding and a vestige of its heritage.