The Hometown Feel and Charisma of Garland in Dallas, Texas

Like a few other surrounding suburbs, Garland is also one of the 100 Best Places to Live ranked #67, with the confortable feel of the city, and the closeness of the community making it a charming home and visiting place. There are several venues in Garland, some of which have been newly added, including the Hawaiian Falls waterpark which was added to the suburb in 2003 in place of the previous water park, the Garland ISD Special Events Center which was opened in 2005, and the Firewheel Town Center, which is an outdoor mall that offers 100 different businesses, and great employment to the area as well.

How the Suburb Got Its Start

Texas gained its statehood in 1846, but before that, Garland, TX was a part of the Peters Colony – a very large colony of the pre-Texas years. Settlers to the area started to arrive during 1850, with the early pioneers finding the black soil of the area to be great for growing the cotton crops they planned to grow. There were two towns combined together, Duck Creek as well as Embree, which created Garland, first established during 1891. There were acres of wildflowers native to the area, which were once the main attraction of the land for visitors and the early pioneers.

The business district of Garland saw tragedy three different times due to fires that ravaged the area. However, during the late years of the ‘30s, businesses once again began to move back to Garland, bringing Craddock Food Co., a pickle manufacturer, and Byer-Rolnick, a hat factory. During ’37, there was a tower constructed for the Dallas KRLD radio station, still in operation today.

Further growth continued in garland, which included 57 schools, 130 churches, 2 different hospitals, 3 separate golf courses, 70 public parks, 327 different restaurants, and 9 community swimming pools. Today, Garland sees a great deal of residents passing through and choosing to claim this hometown as their own. Home costs are very favorable, with the estimated house value for detached homes at around $118,000 and the median cost for homes in the area at a low $133,000. This introduces architecture of all types, mostly similar to the surrounding Texan cities and Dallas suburbs, featuring Craftsman style homes, ranch style single family homes, and even Tudor and Victorian style homes, as well as modest cottages that allow the most affordable living in the area.