Sowers Community

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Sowers Community out in Dallas County. Now, some places get built by grand design — banks and railroads and men in tall hats making plans. But the Sowers community?

It grew the way a good fire does. Slowly, steadily, from a single spark. By 1856, Edmund D. and Freelove Sowers had come all the way from Illinois and put down roots right here in this corner of Texas.

They weren't alone for long. Their neighbors — Jacob and Henry Caster, William and Lucinda Haley — they were all out here doing what folks did: farming, hunting game, cutting timber. And Ed Sowers, he kept busy on top of all that, working as a blacksmith.

The man had more trades than a Swiss Army knife, and this part of Texas was better for it. Then, in the late 1870s, Ed opened a general store right there on his own property. And you know how it goes — once you've got a store, you've got a community.

A small business district grew up around it, just like iron filings finding a magnet. Families kept arriving, and Ed and Freelove kept making room. When the community needed a cemetery, Ed donated land to be added to an adjacent burial plot and gave folks a proper place to rest.

In 1881, he applied for a mail route and opened a post office right inside that general store. That same stretch of time, he built a schoolhouse for the local children. One man, building the bones of a whole community piece by piece.

By the 1880s, word had gotten out that Sowers was a place worth landing. Physicians started showing up — William Wilson, Alfred Gregory, and Daniel Webster Gilbert, who ran a local drugstore. Then in 1897, a young doctor named John Haley — a Sowers native, born and raised right here — began his medical practice in the community.

Dr. John Haley would go on to serve as mayor of Irving one day, but Sowers is where he got his start. With a post office, a school, a store, and now proper medical care, the Sowers community became a genuine hub for all the farming communities spread out across the surrounding land.

But here's the part that really tells you something about Ed and Freelove Sowers as people. They held annual Fourth of July picnics. Annual.

Every year, they threw open their arms and invited families from across the whole region to come out and camp, dance, compete in baseball games, and sit down to barbecue dinners. That is not the act of a man who built a community for profit. That is the act of a man who built one out of welcome.

The decades rolled by, and nearby Irving kept growing. But the Sowers community — anchored in the dairy and poultry businesses — held on. It held on all the way through to the 1950s.

And then, quietly, the seams began to give. Irving annexed the community in 1954, and again in 1956. The Sowers School consolidated with Irving schools in 1955.

The businesses closed. The homes came down. Today, when you pass through here, the buildings are gone.

The houses are gone. What Edmund and Freelove built from scratch, out of Illinois grit and Texas dirt, has mostly returned to the ground. Mostly.

Because the cemetery is still here. The one Ed donated land to establish, where the community gathered its memories and laid its people to rest. That cemetery is the last standing link to everything the Sowers community was.

Some places leave monuments. Sowers left something quieter — and, if you ask me, something that says a whole lot more.

What the marker says

By 1856, Edmund D. and Freelove Sowers, who came to Texas from Illinois, owned land in this vicinity. Along with their neighbors, including Jacob and Henry Caster, and William and Lucinda Haley, they farmed, hunted game and cut timber. Ed Sowers also served as a blacksmith. Sowers opened a general store on his property in the late 1870s, and a small business district developed around it. As additional families came to the area, Sowers donated land that was added to an adjacent burial plot to form the community cemetery. In 1881, he applied for a mail route and opened a post office in his general store. During that same time, Sowers built a schoolhouse for local children. In the 1880s, several physicians came to the Sowers community, including William Wilson, Alfred Gregory and Daniel Webster Gilbert, who had a local drugstore. Dr. John Haley, a Sowers native who would later serve as mayor of Irving, began his medical practice here in 1897. With medical services and the post office, the Sowers community served as a center for area farming communities. Ed and Freelove Sowers held annual Fourth of July picnics and other festivals, inviting families from the region to camp, dance, compete in baseball games and enjoy barbecue dinners. Despite the growth of nearby Irving, the Sowers community, with strong foundations in the dairy and poultry businesses, survived until the 1950s. The Sowers School consolidated with Irving schools in 1955, and Irving annexed the community itself in 1954 and 1956. Today, the businesses and homes are gone. Only the cemetery remains as a link to the Sowers community. (2003)