Garland is a city that is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in the state of Texas. Garland is located almost entirely in Dallas County, with a small portion located in Collin and Rockwall counties.

Garland Diversity and Language

According to the 2010 United States Census, Garland’s racial makeup was 57.5% white, 14.5% black, 0.8% Native American, 9.4% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 14.4% other races, and 3.3% of two or more races. Non-Hispanic whites comprised 36.7% of the population, down from 86.5% in 1980.

English is the official language of Garland. 51.74% of Garland residents speak only English, while 48.26% speak other languages. The most-spoken non-English language is Spanish, which is spoken by 35.09% of the population.

Garland Population Growth

In 1890, Garland’s population was 478, which grew to 242,507 in 2018.

Between 1900 and 1910, Garland experienced its only decrease in population by 1.8% from 819 people to 804 people.

Garland experienced its largest population growth between 1940 and 1950, where it grew by 373.4% from 2,233 to 10,571. In the following decade, the population grew 264.2% from 10,571 to 38,501.

The population growth rate has decreased significantly. From 2010 to 2018, the population grew 6.9%, less than 1.0% growth per year.

Around 1850, immigrants began arriving to the area of modern-day Garland and two communities formed by 1874: Embree and Duck Creek. The two communities grew a rivalry around the Santa Fe Railroad depot and fought over which town would get the local post office for several years. In 1887, Congressman Joe Abbott submitted a bill to Congress to move the post office to a place between the two towns. The new location was named Garland after President Grover Cleveland’s Attorney General, Augustus H. Garland. Soon after, the Embree and Duck Creek communities joined with Garland to form the city of Garland.

By 1890, Garland had four churches, three gristmills, three cotton gins, a flour mill, and several hotels and businesses. Garland was incorporated on April 21, 1891, and had a population of 819 people by 1904.

In 1920, a local businessman financed a new electrical generator plant, which led to the formation of Garland Power and Light. Garland Power and Light still powers the city today. The first car dealership was built in the 1920s. Unfortunately, a tornado in 1927 destroyed much of the city and killed seventeen people, including the former mayor S.E. Nicholson.

In the late 1930s, the Craddock food company and the Byer-Rolnick hat factory moved into Garland. The first radio tower, the KRLD (Dallas) radio tower, was constructed and is still operational to this day. Kraft Foods bought a motor plant to rebuild for its manufacture. In the 1940s, Garland was a major onion-shipping point.

Garland’s government changed to a city-manager government in 1951, with L.E. Stark becoming the first city manager. Between 1954 and 1957, Garland grew from 6,832 acres to 8,000 acres. By the late 1960s, the city had 80 churches, 28 schools, 15 parks, four banks, and two hospitals.

Garland has one of the lowest poverty rates of U.S. cities. In 1990, Garland’s population was at 180,650 and had 2,227 businesses, making it the second-largest city in Dallas County and the tenth-largest city in Texas.

The 2000s brought several developments for Garland, including the Hawaiian Falls waterpark in 2003, the Garland Independent School District’s Curtis Culwell Center (an arena and conference facility) in 2005, and the Firewheel Town Center in 2005, an outdoor mall with over 100 businesses and an AMC theater. In 2009, the 5th Street Crossing was developed, a mixed-use, transit-oriented project with 189 apartment units, 11,000 square feet of retail, and six live-work units.

On December 26, 2015, the southeast part of Garland was struck by an EF4 tornado causing at least eight fatalities.