Garland, Texas, United States

🇺🇸 Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located north-east of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is located almost entirely within Dallas County, except a small portion located in Collin and Rockwall counties. It is the 93rd-most populous city in the United States of America and the 12th most populous city in Texas. Garland is second only to the city of Dallas in Dallas County by population and has easy access to downtown Dallas via public transportation including two Dart Blue Line stations and buses.

History Immigrants began arriving in the Peters colony area around 1850, but a community was not created until 1874. Two communities sprang up in the area: Embree, named for physician K. H. Embree, and Duck Creek, named for the local creek of the same name. A rivalry between the two towns ensued as the area began to grow around the Santa Fe Railroad depot.

Eventually, to settle a dispute regarding which town should have the local post office, Dallas County Judge Thomas A. Nash asked visiting Congressman Joe Abbott to move the post office between the two towns. The move was completed in 1887. The new location was named Garland after U.S. Attorney General Augustus Hill Garland.

Soon after, the towns of Embree and Duck Creek were combined, and the three areas combined to form the city of Garland, which was incorporated in 1891.

In 1920, local businessmen financed a new electrical generator plant (sold by Fairbanks-Morse) for the town. This later led to the formation of Garland Power and Light, the municipal electric provider that still powers the city today.

Businesses began to move back into the area in the late 1930s. The Craddock food company and later the Byer-Rolnick hat factory (now owned by Resistol) moved into the area. In 1937, KRLD, a major Dallas radio station, built its radio antenna tower in Garland, and it is operational to this day.

During World War II, several aircraft plants were operated in the area, and the Kraft Foods company purchased a vacant one after the war for its own use. By 1950, the population of Garland exceeded 10,000 people. From 1950 to 1954, though, the Dallas/Garland area suffered from a serious and extended drought, so to supplement the water provided by wells, Garland began using the water from the nearby Lake Lavon.

The suburban population boom that the whole country experienced after World War II also reached Garland by 1960, when the population nearly quadrupled from the 1950 figure to about 38,500. By 1970, the population had doubled to about 81,500. By 1980, the population reached 138,850. Charles R. Matthews served as mayor in the 1980s; he was later a member of the elected Texas Railroad Commission.

In the 2000s, Garland added several notable developments, mostly in the northern portion of the city. Hawaiian Falls waterpark opened in 2003. (Garland formerly had a Wet 'n Wild waterpark, which closed in 1993). The Garland Independent School District's Curtis Culwell Center (formerly called the Special Events Center), an arena and conference facility, opened in 2005. Later that year, Firewheel Town Center, a Main Street-style outdoor mall, owned by Simon Property Group, opened in October 2005.

It has over 100 business and includes an AMC theater. In 2009, the city, in conjunction with developer Trammell Crow Company, finished a public/private partnership to develop the old parking lot (the land between 5th Street, 6th Street, and on the north side of Austin Street) into a new mixed-use, transit-oriented development named 5th Street Crossing. Cater-corner to both City Hall and the downtown DART Rail station, the project consists of 189 residential apartment units, 11,000 square feet (1,000 m²) of flex retail, and six live-work units.

Neighborhoods and historical communities • Buckingham North • Duck Creek • Centerville • Club Hill • Eastern Hills • Embree • Firewheel • Oaks • Rose Hill • Spring Park • Travis College Hill Addition • Valley Creek* • The 5 • Oakridge • Brentwood Place • Brentwood Village.

Economy In the late 1930s, the Craddock food company, which manufactured pickles, moved to town. In 1937, the KRLD (Dallas) radio tower was constructed in Garland. During World War II, several aircraft plants operated in the Garland area. After the war, Kraft Foods bought the Continental Motors Plant to retool for its manufacture. The Kraft plant still operates to this day. As a station on two railroads, Garland was a major onion-shipping point in the 1940s.

Resistol Hats in Garland is a notable manufacturer of premium hats, many of which have been worn by or given to notable figures around the world. The company has long been an important part of Garland's manufacturing base. The company was founded by E.R. Byer and Harry Rolnick, who established Byer-Rolnick in Dallas in 1927. At the time, the company produced men's felt hats. The company used the name "Resistol Hats" to indicate that the hats could "resist-all" weather conditions. Some accounts contend the name was given because the headbands in the company's hats were more resistant to scalp oil. The growing firm needed to expand. In 1938, it moved to a larger facility in Garland, where Resistol hats continue to be manufactured today. For decades, residents surrounding the hat factory could set their clocks to its whistle.

In the early 1980s, Garland had one of the lowest poverty rates of cities in the country. In 1990, it had a population of 180,650 and 2,227 businesses, making it Dallas County's second-largest city and the 10th-largest in the state. Today, Garland had a variety of industries, including electronics, steel fabrication, oilfield equipment, aluminum die casting, hat manufacture, dairy products, and food processors.

Top employers According to the City of Garland's Economic Development Partnership website, the top employers in the city include: 1 Garland Independent School District; 2 City of Garland; 3 Kraft Foods; 4 US Food Service; 5 Epiroc Drilling Solutions; 6 SilverLine Window; 7 Hatco (Resistol); 8 L3-Communication; 9 Arrow Fabricated Tubing; 10 Valspar.

Garland has lost many of their major employers over the last few years. Raytheon moved to Richardson, Baylor Scott and White closed (but later opened as a VA hospital), L3 Technologies closed, as did many others.

Arts and culture Garland is home to numerous historic and recent entertainment venues.

Colleges and universities Dallas County residents are zoned to Dallas College (formerly Dallas County Community College or DCCCD). Richland College, a member of Dallas College, states, operates a Garland Campus which has been in operation since June 30, 2009.

Garland is also the home of Amberton University, a fully accredited private university with both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Amberton University was formerly known as Amber University and previously known as Abilene Christian University at Dallas.

Trains A Kansas City Southern track runs parallel to State Highway 78 (Garland Road and Lavon Drive), coming out of Dallas and heading all the way through the other side of Garland towards Wylie. There is also a Dallas, Garland and Northeastern Railroad line serving industries around the city.

Light rail • DART: Blue Line ◦ Forest/Jupiter station ◦ Downtown Garland station.

Air The city of Garland owns the Garland/DFW Heloplex. The facility was the first municipal heliport in Texas when it opened in November 1989. Located at 2559 S. Jupiter Road, the heliport is operated by SKY Helicopters Inc., which was initially awarded a lease of the facility in January 1993.