Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Garland was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Dr. David Dickson Sloan Farm. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1920.
Garland dates its founding to 1888 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Garland’s history is told.
Peaked at 885 in 1980; 595 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Garland’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Garland.
The community was settled in about 1888 and named Sloan's Crossing. It was incorporated in 1907 as Garland, after U.S. Attorney General Augustus Hill Garland.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Garland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Garland.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Garland itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1888, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Garland’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1920 counted 301 people here.
One place: the Dr. David Dickson Sloan Farm (listed 1986).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2020
2017