Friends of the Irving Museums

10/16/2026

Irving City Baseball Team, 1926

It's the time of year for the Fall Classic, so here's the Irving city baseball team from 1926. The team, made up of post-high school Irvingites, played teams from the surrounding towns.

10/08/2026

Mac and Willie Mae Thompson on Their Farm, c. 1925

Early Irvingites Mac and Willie Mae Thompson's farm was located on what today is the southeast corner of Irving Blvd. and O'Connor Road - now the site of Bank of America and Southern Petals & Pour. From farmland to city corner in one lifetime!

10/01/2026

Rosemarie Goldammer, Dancer, 1943

Rosemarie Goldammer was born in 1922 in Lauban, Germany, trained in ballet, and performed professionally throughout her youth. After 15 years at the Dresden State Opera House, she fled East Germany in 1954 to escape Communist rule and moved to Irving in 1956. She opened her own ballet school, the Young Dancers Studio of Ballet, in 1961 - and when the Irving Humane Society faced closure in 1969, she raised funds, rescued animals, and even purchased a building for the society with $10,000 of her own money.

09/30/2026

Members Only Reception sponsored by the Friends of the Irving Museums on Friday, October 2nd from 6-7pm, just before the public gallery walk and poetry reading by poets featured in IAM’s newest exhibit, Killing the Negative: A Conversation in Art & Verse. RSVP to [email protected] or call 972-252-3838 to reserve your spot!

09/24/2026

Darr Equipment Company, 1955

Darr Equipment Company, northeast Texas' Caterpillar distribution center, opened in Irving in 1954. It was built on what had been a polo grounds at the corner of Highway 183 and Loop 12. Darr Equipment Company still operates in Irving, and in 2022 Caterpillar moved it's global headquarters to Irving.

What's the oldest business you remember in Irving that's still around today?

09/18/2026

THANK YOU to everyone who supported our GET THE MAPS OFF THE FLOOR campaign on North Texas Giving Day! Thanks to your generosity and our $650 Board Match, we raised an incredible $4,575!

Here’s the catch: this project doesn’t move forward unless we reach our full $8,000 goal. To unlock the matching $15,000 museum budget allocation and safely house over 100 historic maps, blueprints, and artworks, we must bridge that remaining $3,425 gap.

So, we aren’t stopping yet! If you missed NTX Giving Day, you can still help us finish the job. Every gift, no matter the size, brings us one step closer to getting these historical artifacts off the floor and digitized for accessibility.

Help us reach $8,000 and give Irving’s history the safe home it deserves!

You can still donate through the North Texas Giving Day portal to support this project.

Thank you for standing with the Irving Archives and Museum!

09/17/2026

09/17/2026

Today is the day! You saved the sign… now, help us GET THE MAPS OFF THE FLOOR!

For over 40 years, the Irving Archives has preserved the records, photos, maps, and artifacts that tell our story. Last year alone, our staff fielded nearly 300 research inquiries—and demand keeps growing!

However, over 100 oversized historic maps and other artifacts are currently waiting for a safe home.

This North Texas Giving Day, we’re on a mission to raise $8,000 for 11 professionally designed archival shelving units.

Here’s why your gift goes further:

Maximum Impact: The museum has committed $15,000 in matching budget funds—meaning every $1 you donate helps leverage nearly $2 toward preservation!

Community Access: Getting these items off the floor allows us to catalog, photograph, and upload them to our online digital portal for students, researchers, and families to explore.

Help us give Irving’s history the safe, accessible home it deserves!

Give today: https://www.northtexasgivingday.org/organization/IAMFriends

Irving Archives and Museum

09/17/2026

Irving city hall opened in 1976. The first floor was originally designed as an open space to reflect transparency in government in the wake of the Watergate scandal in Washington D.C.

In the open space, each city department’s location was designated by a graphic sign representing each particular department.

What department do you think this sign signified?

While we're at it: This call 1-800-GET-THE-MAPS-OFF-THE-FLOOR to save artifacts like this graphic sign! Donate today to the Friends of the Irving Museums and help create safe, professional storage for Irving’s history! Show your support at www.northtexasgivingday.org/organization/IAMFriends