Garland’s post office opened in 1887, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #191 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Garland was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1890.
The Garland post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1891. Two smaller post offices, Duck Creek (1848) and Embree (1887), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 478 in 18902020 census: 246,018139 years
How historic is Garland?
C+
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Garland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1891.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Garland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Garland is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #191 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Garland’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Garland ranks #276 on History.
Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Garland’s 2.1 sits above most of its state (76% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 53 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Garland’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1891 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Garland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Garland’s post office has been open since 1887. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Duck Creek
1848–1887
Embree
1887–1887
Garland
1887–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BethardCentervilleEmbreeNaamanRose HillShilohWhite Rock
Gone or out of use
Ganze Ranch AirstripairportMadeira Airparkairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Garland
MilesMills
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Garland, building by building, 1901–1928
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
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 F. 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.
Passages that mention Garland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas ..1892 · page 331Read the page →
Read the text
Nash and several other prominent citizens of Duck Creek, the name of the post office was changed from Embree to Garland (after the then postmaster general), and at once Duck Creek adopted the name of the new post office, and " on the home-run Garland gained on her adversary and passed under the wires a full length ahead." Then com-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Memorial and biographical history of Dallas county, Texas ... Containing a history of this important section of the great state of Texas, from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time ... and biographical mention of many of its pioneers, a1892Read the page →
Read the text
1891, to determine whether within the territory embraced within the hereinafter described limits should be incorporated under the name of the 'Town of Garland;' and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas ..1892 · page 936Read the page →
Read the text
He next moved to Texas, landing in Dallas county, March 5, 1878, and settled five miles east of Garland, on Kowlet creek. After one year he moved to near Garland, rented a farm two years, and afterward purchased ninety acres three miles northwest of this place. He has since added 106 acres more to his first purchase, and now has a farm of 200 acres of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Garland, 1848 to 1999
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Garland post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1891.
How does Garland rank for history?
Garland is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #191 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Garland?
Three places: the Garland Downtown Historic District (listed 2017), the Travis College Hill Historic District (2017) and the Garland Bank & Trust Company (2023).
How old are the homes in Garland?
0.4% of Garland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1978.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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