Garland dates to 1890, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #31 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Garland Carnegie Library and the Bear River High School Science Building. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1895.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 57% of U.S. towns, #31 of 119 in Utah. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Garland’s overall grade.
Utah towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Utah town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Garland’s 7.5 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Utah towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points). Two sources give 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Garland was originally named "Sunset" and settled in 1890. The first settler was David E. Manning.
It was a company town and was renamed after William Garland, the contractor who built the Utah Sugar Company factory at the location, completed in 1903. The company donated land to the LDS Church for a "ward chapel and amusement hall" and also built 14 homes, a hotel, and other buildings. The town had a general store, a bank, a post office, and a newspaper named The Garland Globe in 1906. By the 1920s there were other merchants, a flour mill, a Carnegie library, and a high school.
A Salt Lake Tribune article from June 1920 notes that Garland had a substantial population of Mexican Americans and Latino Mormons.
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.
In 1890, according to Wikidata. Garland’s post office opened in 1895, and the census of 1910 counted 600 people here.
How does Garland rank for history?
Garland is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #31 of 119 in Utah. 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?
Two places: the Garland Carnegie Library (listed 1984) and the Bear River High School Science Building (1985).
How old are the homes in Garland?
17% of Garland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
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