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History · Garland

Garland dates to 1874, and 63% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Germantown State Bank Building. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1880.

1874founded
1on the National Register
63%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Garland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Garland began

When was Garland founded?

1874

Garland dates its founding to 1874 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 7 in 18802020 census: 210152 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓

What stands out about Garland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Garland’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · The story

How Garland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Garland.

Read it all →

In 1874, the Midland Pacific Railroad built the first railway in Seward County, laying tracks from Lincoln to Seward. To finance the construction of the new line, the railroad sought money from the county. However, the residents of the southern portion of the county voted overwhelmingly against the bond issue in an 1871 election: they were displeased at having been bypassed by an earlier railroad line, anticipated no benefits from the new line, and were angry with Seward, which had won the county seat away from the southern town of Milford. The failure of the bond issue forced the railroad to seek support from the northern portions of the county; so rather than following the desirable route up the valley of Middle Creek, the company agreed to build the line through Malcolm and then up into the hills of northeastern Seward County. This measure won enough support for the bonds to be a…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Garland, 1874 to 1973

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874
    FoundingGarland is established
  3. 1874Post officeThe Germantown post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1919Post officeThe Germantown post office closes
  6. 1919Post officeThe Garland post office opens
  7. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1973In the archiveMEMBERS OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD HOLD MONTHLY MEETING IN A ROOM ABOVE THE VOLUNTEER F…
By decade

Garland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s5 items
MEMBERS OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD HOLD MONTHLY MEETING IN A ROOM ABOVE THE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT1973MEMBERS OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD HOLD MONTHLY MEE…MONTHLY MEETING OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD1973MONTHLY MEETING OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARDMONTHLY MEETING OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD. VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT IS HOUSED IN THE SAME BUILDING1973MONTHLY MEETING OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD. VOLUNTE…MRS. ART SCHAEFER OF GARLAND PLANTS HER SPRING GARDEN1973MRS. ART SCHAEFER OF GARLAND PLANTS HER SPRING GARDENPLANTING A VEGETABLE GARDEN IN1973PLANTING A VEGETABLE GARDEN IN
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Garland, Nebraska downtown 32011Garland, Nebraska downtown 3Garland, Nebraska downtown 22011Garland, Nebraska downtown 2Garland, Nebraska downtown 12011Garland, Nebraska downtown 1NEMap-doton-Garland2005NEMap-doton-Garland
On the map

Garland on the map, 1964 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Garland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Garland on the 1964 USGS mapGarland on the 1972 USGS mapGarland on the 1986 USGS map1964Garland sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Garland.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

MEMBERS OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD HOLD MONTHLY MEETING IN A ROOM ABOVE THE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
Retake this viewMEMBERS OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD HOLD MONTHLY MEETING IN A ROOM ABOVE THE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, 1973

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Garland’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Garland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Germantown State Bank Building
Germantown State Bank Building
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Neoclassical Revival Style1
Renaissance Revival1
Greek Doric Mode1
Germantown State Bank BuildingNeoclassical Revival Style

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Garland, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 279

Between 7 and 279 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Garland’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Garland’s post office has been open since 1919. Another post office, Germantown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Germantown
1874–1919
Garland
1919–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Garlandlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Garland’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMEMBERS OF THE GARLAND VILLAGE BOARD HO…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Garland’s history

What year was Garland founded?

In 1874, according to Wikidata. Garland’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1880 counted 7 people here.

What is on the National Register in Garland?

One place: the Germantown State Bank Building (listed 1984).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (9), 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.