1832
Jun 11 – A. H. Garland born in Covington, TN
1885
Mar 6 – Pres. Cleveland appoints A. H. Garland Atty. General
1886
Sep 21 – Dallas Co. records plat of Embree
1887
Jan 7 – Old Duck Creek business district burns
Apr 8 – The Duck Creek News, forerunner of The (original) Garland News, debut Apr 12 – Dallas Co. record Town of Duck Creek plat
Dec 9 – Embree post office renamed Garland
1891
Apr 18 – Garland gets corporate charter
1899
Jan. 26 – A. H. Garland dies in Washington
Nov 30 – Fire razes downtown Garland
1900 (Census pop. 819)
1901
Jan 7 – Voters create GISD by 49 to 5
Jan 11 – Santa Fe depot freight room damaged by fire, robbery and arson suspected
Jan 24 – Santa Fe opens new depot
1902
Sept 22 – Garland High School inaugurated on 9th St.
1906
Sept 7 – Council grants franchise for 1st electric light plant
Sept 28 – County Baptist Assoc. condemns Sunday opening by Garland Fair Assoc.
Apr 22 – Auto tour from Dallas draws gawkers on Garland square
Jun 6 – Local state militia company organized with 59 Garland men
Nov 16 – West Garland Local of Farmers Union organized
Dec 21 – GHS plays 1st ever intramural football game. Score: Mesquite 6, Garland 0
1907
Feb 6 – Monkey stolen from one of two Italian organ grinders awaiting departing train
Aug 9 – Lake Garland Park opening draws over 6,000
Sept 30 – Mollie Bailey circus in town
Oct 27 – Katy freight and passenger trains collide between Dallas and Garland, killing 1 injuring 50
1910 (Census pop. 965)
1913
Jan 15 – National Bank of Garland and First Guaranty State Bank merge. New entity named State National Bank
1914
Dec 4 – Bert Payne moves Lyric Electric Theatre to the northside of the square
1915
Aug 2 – Texas Power & Light Co. franchised for electricity
Aug – Sims Chapel organized by Rev. A.L. Sims, the first African-American church organized in Garland
1918
Sept 4 – Plane misses Love Field, lands here in oat field
Sept 26 – J. D. Cabaniss becomes 1st WWI casualty
1920 (Census pop. 1,421)
1922
Aug – Garland ISD opens its first school for African-American children, the Carver School
1923
Apr 1 – City electric and water service begins
1924
Sept 4 – Constable Lige Harris dies after shootout
1926
Apr 1 – First National Bank robbed of $4, 541.25
1927
Mar 19 – Community National Gas begins service
May 9 – Cyclone hits Garland, kills 14
1930 (Census pop. 1584)
1932
Apr 3 – Fire razes Garland Hotel at NE corner of square
1933
Mar 4 – State National Bank closed for Bank Holiday
Mar 17 – State National., Garland’s only bank, reopens
Mar 26 – Fountain dedicated to 18 lost in WWI
Jul 1 – Roach Feed and Grocer Co. opens
Aug 6 – 18th Amendment fails 173 to 121; local beer 121to 63
Dec 23 – Nicholson Memorial Library loans 1st book
1936
Jul 7 – Beer loses 438/335 in precinct vote
May 8 – GHS entrant wins city’s 1st state track & field title
Sept 11 – New Garland High School Dedicated
1937
May 8 – GHS entrant wins city’s 1st state track & field title
1938
Apr 19 – Roy Rogers in town to plug movie
1939
May 30 – Athletic Field Hosts 1st outdoor GHS graduation exercise
Jan 28 – Single KRLD tower falls
1941
Apr 4 – Plaza Theatre opens on the square
Apr 6 – Phone system converted to automatic dial
Dec 7 – W. E. Marshall, Jr. becomes 1st WWII casualty
1942
Feb 20 – GHS wins city’s 1st bi-dist. basketball title
1944
Mar 1 – Home mail delivery begins
Aug 5 – Pct. liquor vote fails 578/400
Jul 1 – Work begins on Luscombe plant
1946
Jan 16 – Garland Elementary School burns
Jun 5 – Jaycees organized
Jun 28 – Locals adopt Malmedy, Belgium for war relief
Sep 1-1st Jaycee Labor Day Celebration
Sept 30 – City Bus Lines begins service to Dallas
1948
Jan 10 – City acquires 50-acre Central Park site
Jun 19 – Cong. Lyndon B. Johnson campaigns for Senate from a helicopter in a field near Avenue D’s crossing of the Santa Fe tracks.
Sept 24 – Jim Bob Groves becomes 1ST polio fatality
Oct 4 – Ninth mail carrier added
Nov 7 – Garland Volunteer Fire Station dedicated on 6th St. & Ave. A
Dec 21 –Both KRLD towers fall
1949
Jan 30 – B. H. Freeman, 2nd elementary opens
May 7 – GHS player nets city’s 1st state singles tennis title
Jun 13 – Duck Creek floods, kills 4
Aug 13 – Lions Club offers free DDT
Aug 29 – Emsco D+B Plant opens
Sept 1 – 1st Alcoholics Anonymous group forms
Nov 22 – Kiwanis Club organizes
1950 (Census pop.10,291)
Mar 1 – Parking meters set downtown for one-year trial
Apr 7 – Garland Rd. Drive-in Theater opens
Apr 18 – Oilwell Supply breaks ground on Forest Ln.
Oct 22 – Garland phone numbers gain 5th digit
Dec 11 – Garland Junior High opens on Ave. D
1951
Jan 23 – W.C. Daugherty, 3rd elementary school opens
Mar 5 – Gypsy camp discovered between Garland and Rowlett
Apr 13 – Police open new station on Ave. A & 6th St.
Apr 18 – Garland Little League chartered
Jun 1 – Garland studios of KTER radio debut
Jun 18 – Garland police get 2-way radios
Oct 18 – Home Rule city charter approved
Dec 18 – 1st Plan Commission named
1952
Mar 17 – DeSoto Paint and Varnish breaks ground
Mar 17 – County Tax Office branch opens on trial basis
Jun 2 – KMEA radio replaces KTER in Garland studio
Jun 21 – Swimming pool debuts in Central Park
Jul 11 – 221st Radio Relay Squadron of TX Air Nat’t Guard activates
Aug 4 – Live hand grenade found in Duck Creek near Centerville Rd.
Oct 17 – Meteor said to have exploded over Beltline & Centerville
Dec 6 – Council renames Bankhead Hwy – Garland Ave.
1953
Oct 7 – Lavon Dam dedicated
Nov 5 – 5000th telephone installed
Dec 10 – North Texas Municipal Water District created
1954
May 9 – Good Shepherd Catholic School dedicated
May 21 – Lake Lavon stocked with 987,000 bass
Jun 29 – “Colored baseball park” dedicated in E. Garland
Oct 7 – First game in Williams Stadium won by 9th Grade Jr. High Team
Oct 7 – GISD Board discourages married student attendance
Oct 12 – General Motors Training Center opens
1956
Jan 1 – St. Nat’l. Bk. of Garland becomes 1st Nat’l. Bk. in Garland
Jul 1 – Rick Oden becomes 1st U.S. Little League game fatality
Mar 23 – Steam Electric Plant dedicated
Dec 22 – GHS wins city’s 1st football title
1957
Jun 1 – GHS win’s city’s 1st regional baseball championship
Oct 1 – Garland Police hire first female staffer
Nov 3 – Garland phones extend dial service to Dallas
1958
Je 15 – IBM punch-card gear arrives for 1st autom’td city bills
1959
Jun 22 – Entertainer Perry Como tours Kraft plant
Sept 15 – Garland-Mills Cemetery Foundation established
1960 (Census pop. 38,501)
1963
Dec 21 – GHS Fighting Owls win AAAA Football State Championship in 17-0 victory over Corpus Christi Miller
1964
Dec 19 – GHS Fighting Owls win AAAA Football State Championship in 26-21 victory over Galena Park Yellowjackets
1967
Oct 28 – Olinger electric plant dedicated
1968
Apr 18 – Garland Civic Theater chartered
1970 (Census pop. 86,402)
1974
Aug 11 – NGHS gymnast wins city’s 1st national title
Sept 29 – Landmark Museum dedicated
1976
Dec 11 – SGHS runner wins city’s 1st state cross-country title
1977
Apr 2 – City voters approve single-member districts
Nov 30 – A $100,000-per-year prostitution operation is reported to be broken up by the Garland Police Tactical Unit
1978
Apr 22 – NGHS wins city’s 1st state gymnastics team title
Sept 4 – U.S. First Lady Rosalyn Carter visits Garland for downtown square renovation groundbreaking
1980 (Census pop. 138,857)
1982
Jun 5 – Performing Arts Center ribbon cut
1983
Apr 2 – Jim Culp elected 1st black councilman
Jun 24 – Garland Summer Musicals debuts with Carnival
1984
Feb 5 – Arsonist causes 3-alarm blaze, destroying the library and several classrooms at Hillside Elementary School
Jul 6 – Garland NAACP chapter chartered with 127 members
Sept 12 – Two Garland sisters are convicted for trying to hire a hitman to kill their husbands
1989
Nov 15 – Officer Gerald Walker killed in traffic stop
1990 (Census pop. 180,650)
Jan 19 – Tornado hits Club Hill neighborhood
1991
April 11 – Storm damages SGHS and neighborhood
1992
Oct 22 – Groundbreaking for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit South Garland Transit Center
1993
Sept 10 – Texas Governor Ann Richards recognizes Garland as a Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission CLEAN TEXAS 2000 CITY
1994
Feb 1 – Council approves resolution designating Garland as a bird sanctuary
Feb 21-25 -Last week for twice-a-week City of Garland garbage pick-up
Mar 1 – Date by which red recycling bins will be delivered to each household
July 15 – Van Cliburn performs with Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra at Spring Creek Festival
Sept 6 – Council promotes Jeffrey B. Muzzy to city manager
Sept 7 – Garland Police Department strengthens force with robot named PETE
1995
Jan – Larry R. Wilson promoted to police chief
Jan 10 – Council approves Economic Development Partnership between the City of Garland and the Garland Chamber of Commerce
June 21 – City of Garland and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development finalize city’s purchase of Eastgate Village apartment complex
Oct. 1 –Texas Business Magazine names Garland the state’s 5th Best-run Medium-sized City (after Plano)
1996
Jan 20 – Sixty-six percent of voters want Garland to stay in DART
Mar 29 – The Ink Spots perform with Garland Symphony Orchestra
June 14 – John Raitt stars in Garland Summer Musicals production of South Pacific
July 5 – Jerry Jeff Walker performs at Star Spangled 4th
Sept 14 – All City of Garland 7-digit office phone numbers standardized with 972 area codes
Oct 11 – The Four Freshmen guest star at Garland Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert
1997
Feb 15 – Officer David Moore killed in Bank heist
Feb – usww.garland.texas.us debuts
Feb 15 – GPD Officer Michael David Moore shot and killed in robbery attempt at Bank One on Centerville
Oct 7 – Crystal Gayle opens Garland Symphony Orchestra’s 1997-98 season
Nov 1 – Garland selected as 1998 Urban Main Street City
1998
Jan 20 – Council designates Firewheel area in N Garland as the Firewheel/190 Corridor
Mar 31 – Church group predicts godly visit on Ridgedale
Apr 23 – Texas First Lady Laura Bush visits to dedicate Garland as a Texas Urban Main Street City
July 13 – Garland Water Utilities pumps single-day record 72,356,000 gallons
July 21 – Council approves purchase of former Food Lion Grocery building as site of new South Garland library branch
Sept 2 – Officer Ronnie Lerma becomes traffic fatality 20
Dec 15 – Council approves closing on 157-acre Carl and Cecil Cooper Park site donation
1999
Jan 7 – Council approves closing on sale of old GP&L power plant on Avenue A
May 7 – Simon Properties closes on 94-acre Firewheel Town Center site acquisition
2000 (Census pop. 215,878)
Jan 1 – Y2K disruption concerns appear unfounded
July 1-4 – More than 185,000 visit Star Spangled Fourth
2001
Feb 4 -The Dallas Morning News axes The (original) Garland News
Feb 8 – The Dallas Morning News debuts The Garland Morning News section
Feb 20 – Council designates a delegation of doctors, hospital representatives and officials from Harben, China as Honorary Citizens of Garland
Mar 1 – Garlandonline.com debuts
Apr 29 – South Garland Branch library opens in a redesigned grocery store building
May 1 – Council names Audubon Park softball fields after Bill Reagan and Jerry Rodgers
May 1 – Council awards $251,057 bid for wood utility poles
June 15 – Ribbon cut for 27-hole Bridges at Firewheel expansion
June 29-July 1 – More than 100,000 brave thunderstorms to visit Star Spangled Fourth
July 13 – Mayor click-starts GP&L’s new 75 megawatt combustion turbine generator powered by compressed air at Olinger plant
Sept 4 – Council approves 2001-02 Operating Budget of $422.2 million
Oct 20 – Ribbon cut for Gale Fields Recreation Center located in Embree Park
Nov 16 – Garland Day Labor Center opens at 2007 Saturn Rd. and Miller Rd.
2002
Feb – New city landfill opens at 3175 Elm Grove Road
Mar 5 – Council approves cooperative purchasing agreement with City of Waco for residential trash carts
Apr 29 – Ribbon cut at Firewheel at Garland for The Bridges Clubhouse and The Branding Iron Restaurant
Apr – Memorial service held for Bexar, 7-year veteran Garland Police Service dog named ASPCA Top Dog in 1999
Sept 17 – Council approves 2002-03 Operating Budget of $406.5 million
Nov 18 – DART rail service begins at Downtown Garland and Forest/Jupiter stations
2003
Feb 4 – Purchase of Spencer Power Plant near Denton adds 274 megawatts to GP&L capacity
Feb 4 – Council approves renaming of Performing Arts Center to Patty Granville Arts Center
Mar 4 – Ribbon cutting for 6,500 square foot Atrium at the Arts Center and an 8,000 square foot of space in the Patty Granville Arts Center
Mar 4 -Council creates SAFELight red light photo enforcement program
Mar 18 – Council resolution supports Bush administration’s military action to liberate Iraqi people and remove threats from weapons of mass destruction
May 12 – “Retooled” city website www.ci.garland.tx.us debuts
July 2-6 – More than 123,000 visit Star Spangled Fourth
Aug 4 – Council awards Dell Computer Corporation $553,000 for 500 desktop computers
Sept 2 – Council approves 2003-04 Operating Budget of $441.2 million
Sept 3 – Ribbon cut on new Municipal Court building, 1791 W Avenue B (at State)
Sept 16 – Mitch Bates promoted to police chief
Oct 7 – William E. ‘Bill’ Dollar promoted to City Manager
Dec – More than 10,000 visit Christmas on the Square
2004
Garland begins 10-year program to replace old water meters with remotely read electronic units
Jan 6 – 5th District Congressman Jeb Hensarling reports to council meeting
Apr 20 – Council names city’s animal shelter for Abe J. Tuggle
May 26 – Hawaiian Falls opens at Winters Park
July 2 – Roberta Flack “Set the Night to Music” headlines Star Spangled Fourth
July 1-5 – Star Spangled Fourth draws an estimated 157,419 people
2005
Median household income $57,612
Median home price $105,070
Mar 21 – Street solicitation ban takes effect
Apr 29 – Garland Parks and Recreations Department celebrates naming of Anita C. Hill Park at Indian Lake in S Garland
May 7 – Voters OK off-premise beer, wine sales by 6:4 mixed drinks in restaurants by 7:3
Aug 18 -The Dallas Morning News axes The Garland Morning News section.
Sept 1 – Council approves 2005-06 Operating Budget of $483.9 million
Sept 19 – Hurricane Relief Center coordinates local efforts for those displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Oct 7-9 – Firewheel Town Center, Garland’s first mall, opens.
Nov – City’s I SIGNS program begins offering non-profits 50c bounty for illegally placed signs turned in
2006
5,400 Garland pets registered with an estimated 53,000 unregistered
City begins trial use of 7 “roundabout” traffic circles
Feb. – North Texas Municipal Water District declares Stage 2 drought conditions
Feb. 2 – Ground broken for Bass Pro Shops
Apr. – Citybank Texas, N. A. loans city The Garland Collection of 9 original paintings by Santa Fe artist Bruce Cody
Apr 6 – The (new) Garland News debuts
Jun 3 – GHS wins 1st Class 5A Girl’s softball championship
Sept. 19 – Council approves 2006-07 Operating Budget of $556.0 million
Nov. 14-18 – Moving wall bearing Vietnam Veterans Memorial displayed at Garland Senior Activity Center
2007 (est. population 224,988)
Mar 1 – Fire Department opens Station No 10 on Provance Rd. in N Garland
Jun 2 – GHS Girl’s Softballers win 1st repeat Class 5A championship
Jun 16 – Ronald Jones elected 1st Black mayor
Sept 4 – Council approves 2007-08 Operating Budget of $542.0 million
2008
Garland’s industrial sector estimated at 2nd largest in Dallas County and 8th largest in state
Feb – Residents invited to participate in Envision Garland process
May 24 – Wally’s Cove in Audubon Park dedicated to the memory of Wally Bohannon
Aug – CNN and Money Magazine rank Garland 67th out of the TOP 100 PLACES to LIVE
Oct – Garland meter readers score 99.95% accuracy rate
Oct 31 – Ridgewood Branch Library closes
2009
July 4- Star Spangled 4th celebration suspended in cutbacks
2010 (Census pop. 226,872)
Feb – City’s GREAT Homes Program buys its first 3 foreclosures for rehab and resale
Feb – City’s website address changes to www.GarlandTX.gov
Feb 11 – Record-breaking snowfall blankets city
May – Garland Utility Payment Drive Thru opens on State St.
May 11 – Charles E. Duckworth Utility Services Building opens on N. Fifth
Oct 19 – Texas State Library and Archives Commission awards $44,634 LONE STAR LIBRARIES grant to Nicholson Memorial Library System
2011
Jan 22 – Harris Holabaugh Recreation Center dedicated
Apr. – Garland’s proposed Firewheel logo and “Texas Made Here” tagline debut
July 12 – KCS RR silences warning train horns at Quiet-Zone Garland street crossings
Nov. 11-12 – Debbie Reynolds presents evenings of music and comedy at Veterans Tribute
2014
Apr 15 – Eastern Hills Country Club sold in bankruptcy for $4.5 million
May 31 – Landmark Depot re-dedication in Heritage Crossing
2015
May 3 – Two attackers killed at Islamic cartoon contest
2020
Mar 17 – First known case of Covid-19 in Garland identified
Mar 23 – First death in Garland attributed to Covid-19
June 23 – Garland VA Medical Center opens in the former Baylor, Scott & White facility
Dec 23 – First Covid-19 vaccine injection delivered
2021
Jan 31 – Texas designates Garland as a hub for mass vaccinations against Covid-19.
Feb 14 – Winter Storm Uri hits Texas causing major state-wide power grid failures.
2023
May 11 – Lyles House (Tinsley/Lyles/Athas/Hoden/Moore) torn down by City.
2025
June 9- 15 foot pet python escapes near Apache & Broadway.
June 21-Sixth annual Viet Nam United national soccer tournament held in Winters Park.