Garland is a city in Dallas County, Texas, with portions extending into Collin and Rockwall counties. It is northeast of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. In 2020, it had a population of 246,018, making it the 93rd-most-populous city in the United States and the 13th-most-populous city in Texas. Garland is the third largest city in Dallas County by population and has 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 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.
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. By 1904 the town had a population of 819 people.
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.
On May 9, 1927, a devastating F4 tornado struck the town and killed 15 people, including the former mayor, S. E. Nicholson.
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 1987 Walmart launched their initial Hypermart USA prototype in Garland, the first ever attempt by Walmart to offer groceries in the world.
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, of flex retail, and six live-work units.
On May 3, 2015, the Curtis Culwell Center attack took place in Garland. The attack ended in a shootout with police guarding the event and the deaths of the two perpetrators.
The southeast side of Garland suffered a major blow on the night of December 26, 2015, after a large EF4 tornado struck the area, moving north from Sunnyvale. Nine fatalities were confirmed in the city from this event. Exactly 6 years later, a mass shooting took place at a convenience store in Garland, resulting in the deaths of 3 people.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 57.1 sq mi (147.9 km), all land.
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
Climate Garland is part of the humid subtropical region. The average warmest month is July, with the highest recorded temperature being in 2000. Typically, the coolest month is January, when the lowest recorded temperature was in 1989. The maximum average precipitation occurs in May.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition
+Garland city, Texas – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)114,98583,25967,19053.29%36.70%27.31%Black or African American alone (NH)25,32632,16436,32711.74%14.18%14.77%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)8877896190.41%0.35%0.25%Asian alone (NH)15,69521,16229,2217.27%9.33%11.88%Pacific Islander alone (NH)10865780.05%0.03%0.03%Other Race alone (NH)2703089410.13%0.14%0.38%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)3,3053,3456,6971.53%1.47%2.72%Hispanic or Latino (any race)55,19285,784104,94525.58%37.81%42.66%Total215,768226,876246,018100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Garland had a population of 246,018 and a median age of 35.5 years, with 24.9% of residents under the age of 18 and 12.9% of residents 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.7 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 82,069 households in Garland, of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.0% were married-couple households, 17.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 86,182 housing units, of which 4.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.9%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 86,453 35.1% Black or African American 37,094 15.1% American Indian and Alaska Native 3,250 1.3% Asian 29,487 12.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 148 0.1% Some other race 47,279 19.2% Two or more races 42,307 17.2% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 104,945 42.7%
In 2020, the composition of the city was 27.31% non-Hispanic white, 14.77% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 11.88% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.38% some other race, 2.72% multiracial, and 42.66% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
2010 census
Of the 75,696 households in 2010, 36.9% had children under 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were not families. About 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.99, and the average family size was 3.48.
In the city, the population was distributed as 28.5% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older at the 2010 United States census. The median age was 33.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.
The racial and ethnic makeup of the city was 57.5% White, 14.5% African American, 0.8% Native American, 9.4% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 14.4% some other race, and 3.3% from two or more races in 2010. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 37.8% of the population. Non-Hispanic whites were 36.7% of the population, down from 86.5% in 1980.
According to the 2010 U.S. census, Garland has the 16th-largest number of Vietnamese Americans in the United States.
2000 census
As of 2000, 12% of the foreign-born population of Garland originated from Vietnam. Two strip-style shopping malls along Walnut Street cater to Vietnamese people, and a community center as of 2009 hosts first-generation Vietnamese immigrants.Brettell, Caroline B. '"Big D" Incorporating New Immigrants in a Sunbelt Suburban Metropolis' (Chapter 3). In: Singer, Audrey, Susan Wiley Hardwick, and Caroline Brettell. Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America (James A. Johnson metro series). Brookings Institution Press, 2009. , 9780815779285. Start p. 53. CITED: p.62.
American Community Survey
At the 2018 American Community Survey, 25.9% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them and the median age was 34.1. Of the adult population, 48.1% were male and 51.9% were female, and the average household size was 3.25 while the average family size was 3.71. Roughly 0.3% of households in Garland were same-sex, unmarried-partner households and 5.3% opposite-sex, unmarried-partner households.
Following continued trends of diversification, the racial and ethnic makeup at 2018's census estimates were 27% non-Hispanic White, 14% African American, 0.7% American Indian or Alaska Native, 12.4% Asian, 0.5% some other race, 1.7% two or more races, and 43.2% Hispanic or Latino American of any race.
Within the local Hispanic or Latino demographic, the largest nationality were Mexican Americans (34.2%). Puerto Ricans made up the second largest single Latin group (0.5%) followed by 42 Cuban Americans and 8.5% other Hispanic and Latino Americans.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007–2011 American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the city was $52,441, and for a family was $57,293. Males had a median income of $36,041 versus $33,950 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,000. About 11.1% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over. The median income for a household in Garland as of 2018 was $60,374.
In 2018, an estimated 242,402 people, 74,489 households, and 77,626 housing units were in the city.
Religion The majority of Garland's local population are affiliated with a religion, being part of the largest Christian-dominated metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2020, the Catholic Church is the largest single Christian denomination in the city and wider Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area. Garland's Catholic population is served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas, one of the largest jurisdictions of the Catholic Church in the United States.