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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Proud citizens of Irving are visiting Austin in |
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honor of City of Irving Day at the State Capitol on March 20, 2007; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, The first settlers moved to the area in the 1850s; in |
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1902 two employees of the Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway, |
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Julius Otto Schulze and Otis Brown, surveyed a new site and named it |
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Irving, after Washington Irving, the favorite author of Brown's |
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wife, Netta; and |
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WHEREAS, By 1912 the town was 500 people strong, with a bank, |
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a newspaper, several churches, and 20 businesses; Irving was |
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officially incorporated on April 14, 1914, on a vote of 27 to 16; by |
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1925 the town had grown enough to hire its first fire marshal, Frank |
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Pate, who would fire six shots in the air with his pistol to summon |
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his volunteer firefighters when they were needed; and |
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WHEREAS, The city began its rapid growth in the mid-20th |
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century; in 1956 the University of Dallas in Irving was founded, and |
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in 1964 Irving Community Hospital was opened; that same year the |
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world's largest trucking terminal was constructed; and |
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WHEREAS, Farsighted city leaders financed and constructed |
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Texas Stadium, which was opened in 1971 and has been the home of |
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America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, ever since; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1973 Irving developer Ben Carpenter opened Las |
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Colinas, a 7,000-acre master-planned community that has grown to |
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include over 1,000 corporate offices, as well as homes, schools, |
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retail businesses, and parks; the community is also home to the Boy |
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Scouts of America; and |
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WHEREAS, The North Lake College campus of the Dallas County |
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Community College District opened in Irving in 1977, and in the |
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1980s Irving built a new arts center and a central library; and |
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WHEREAS, Now only four years past its centennial, Irving is a |
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thriving, vibrant city of 200,000 people, with easy access to |
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Dallas and Fort Worth and connected to the world through |
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Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; the city is home to 8,000 |
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companies, including the corporate headquarters of Fortune 500 |
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companies ExxonMobil, Kimberly-Clark, Commercial Metals, and the |
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Fluor Corporation; and |
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WHEREAS, From its colorful beginnings to its prosperous |
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present to its exciting future, dynamic Irving is one of the great |
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cities of Texas, and its hardworking and innovative citizens are to |
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be congratulated for their contribution to the economy and culture |
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of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize March 20, 2007, as City of Irving Day |
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at the State Capitol and extend to its citizens sincere best wishes |
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for a memorable stay in Austin. |