Kit Community

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job's just to do it justice. Now, before Irving was Irving, there was Kit. And before Kit was Kit, there was Gorbit.

And before Gorbit was anything at all, there was a farm. John W. and Jestine Gorbit, Virginia natives both, had put down roots in this stretch of Dallas County by 1850. A settlement grew up around that farm — took their name, naturally — and before long, Gorbit was pulling enough traffic to earn itself a stop on a pre-Civil War postal route.

Not bad for a patch of North Texas farmland. Then in 1855, a man named Jonathan Story arrived from Illinois. Came with his wife and thirteen children.

Thirteen. You get the feeling Jonathan Story didn't do anything halfway. His son Isaac — went by Ike — would carry the family name deeper into this story.

Ike left for a spell, spent several years back in Illinois, but he came back to Gorbit in 1873, wife and children in tow, and he meant to stay. He opened a store. He built something.

And in 1889, Ike Story established a post office right there in the community. His second wife, Mary Elizabeth, became the first postmaster. Now, here's where the name gets interesting.

Gorbit, it turns out, was causing confusion — there was another town with a name too close for comfort. So in 1894, the post office and the settlement alike were renamed Kit. Just like that, Gorbit became Kit, and Kit it would remain.

Two years later, in 1896, residents established Kit Cemetery, right near Ike Story's store. The community was putting down the kind of roots you don't pull up easy. And the schools — let's talk about the schools, because this place took education seriously.

There was one that started in the late 1850s, with a man named Hezekiah Lucas as teacher. Then in 1890, Mark Callister Lively opened a school of his own. Lively School didn't just teach — it served as the worship space for the area's first Catholic congregation and its first Church of Christ congregation.

A school doing the work of a church. That's a community making do and making it mean something. Kit residents went on to establish Kit School in 1902.

But 1903 brought a change that would rearrange everything. The Town of Irving was founded that year, just west of the community, along the tracks of the Rock Island Railroad. And towns along railroad tracks have a way of drawing things toward them — gravity, almost.

Some of Kit's businesses followed. Some of its churches followed. The post office moved to Irving in 1904.

By 1909, Irving residents were petitioning the legislature for their own school district, and the Kit and Lively schools became the Irving Independent School District. Kit held on to its own identity for several more years after that — but by the 1940s, its agricultural character had vanished, absorbed into the growing City of Irving and the wider Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. What remains is Kit Cemetery, sitting adjacent to Oak Grove Cemetery, and in those grounds you'll find the names — Story, Smith, Cox, and many others — of the families who built this place before anyone called it Irving.

A farm became a settlement. A settlement got a post office and a name. Lost that name, got another one.

Got swallowed by a railroad town. But the people stayed in the ground, and the ground remembers.

What the marker says

Virginia natives John W. and Jestine Gorbit had a farm in this area by 1850. A settlement known as Gorbit grew up around it and became a stop on a pre-Civil War postal route. In 1855, Jonathan Story moved here from Illinois with his wife and 13 children. Story's son, Isaac "Ike," who later returned to Illinois for several years, settled in Gorbit with his wife and children in 1873. He opened a store and in 1889 established a post office; his second wife, Mary Elizabeth, was the first postmaster. Because of confusion with a similarly named town, the Gorbit post office and settlement were renamed Kit in 1894. Residents established Kit Cemetery in 1896 near Ike Story's store. Early area schools included one that began in the late 1850s, with Hezekiah Lucas as teacher. Mark Callister Lively opened a school in 1890. Lively School served the Kit Community and functioned as the worship space for the area's first Catholic and Church of Christ congregations. Kit residents established Kit School in 1902. The Town of Irving was founded in 1903 west of the community, along the tracks of the Rock Island Railroad. Some of Kit's businesses and churches moved to the new townsite. The post office moved to Irving in 1904. Irving residents petitioned the legislature for a school district in 1909, and the Kit and Lively schools ecame the Irving Independent School District. Kit maintained its own identity for several more years, but by the 1940s, its once agricultural character had vanished into the growing City of Irving and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Today in Kit Cemetery, which is adjacent to Oak Grove Cemetery, are found the names of pioneer amilies - Story, Smith, Cox and many others - who contributed to the growth and development of Irving. (2005)