The Garland Landmark Society, Inc.

Downtown Garland

 

HOME

 

THE SOCIETY

 

ARCHIVES

   Brief History                

   Articles

   Documents

   Photos

   Cartoons

   Maps

 

PRODUCTS

 

LINKS

 

CONTACT US

  Embree's Business District, shown here

  ca. 1887, lay on either side of Mewshaw St.,

  now Avenue D., between present Glenbrook Dr.

  and the Santa Fe tracks, where that railroad's

  first depot appears. Embree and the new Duck

  Creek township to the north were joined in

  1888 with a common post office designated

  "Garland."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The Andrew and J. T. Beaver Store building was

  reported as the sole survivor of an 1897 fire that

  destroyed the old Duck Creek community's business

  district, located near the present Avenue B. crossing

  of the creek. It is uncertain whether this image was

  made there or in the new town of Embree, where the

  building was later moved. A meeting hall was

  provided on the building's second floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  This westward view down present State St.

  shows how downtown looked when the city was

  incorporated in 1891. When this image appeared

  in the 1912 Silver Anniversary Edition of

  Garland News the thoroughfare was identified

  by its earlier name, Harbison St.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The Garland Square was unpaved when

  this photo framed its northwest corner of

  present State and 5th Streets is the

  Garland Hotel. Across the street is the

  Citizen's National Bank, Garland's first

  bank, founded in 1895. Successive banks

  operated there until 1929, and in 1933 the

  building was remodeled to become

  Nicholson Memorial Hall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The Garland Square, photographed toward the

  southeast ca. 1906, hosted farm visitors from miles

  in every direction as they arrived for business with

  local banks and merchants. Several of the structures

  shown survive, as does the M. D. Williams

  enterprise,which evolved from a general

  merchandise store into a funeral home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The National Bank of Garland, the city's

  second bank, was capitalized at $50,000

  by local investors in 1906. Standing to the

  right of the tellers window in the freshly

  appointed bank lobby on the northwest

  corner of the square, were John T. Jones,

  the bank's first president and A.R. Davis,

  the cashier and first full-time employee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The capable, friendly staff at Morrison's

  Garage stood ready to serve the growing

  number of Garland motorist ca. 1910.

  A.V. Morrison, Sr., local agent for

  Overland Automobile Co. of Dallas, is

  shown leaning on a car fender at the

  garage, which was located at the

  southeast corner of present 7th and Main

  Streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Trained technicians employed the latest tools

  and equipment to keep Garland on the cutting

  edge of communications technology when this

  shot was taken in the mid 'teens. Shown is the

  shop area of the Garland Telephone Exchange,

  owned at the time by A. V. Morrison, Sr.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

The Garland Lumber Co., occupied the west 

 half of the block bounded by
 present State, Main, 6th and 7th Streets.

 This 1915 image, looking northwest from

 present Main St., shows the yard stacked

 high with wagonloads of materials for city

 and farm construction.
 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

  The west side of the square hosted only

  horse-drawn buggies when this image was

  made (ca. 1915), the year Texas Power &

  Light Co. strung electric wires through 

  town. The pole on the corner beside the

  bank building appears to support one of

  Garland's four electric street lights, which

  illuminated the square.

 

 

 

 

    Shoppers in full dress milled casually about

  the south side of the Garland Square during

  the afternoon on DollarDay, April 3, 1915.

  Only a few months before the outbreak of

  WWI this group concentrated on a drawing

  for a horse and buggy. The image was made

  from the upper stories on the square's

  west side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    "Mainline" protestant churches including

  Baptist (forefront), Presbyterian and

  Methodist, are pictured ca. 1915 in

  successive blocks along the east side of

  9th St. The Christian Church, located a

  block north of the Methodist, is not visible,

  since it's building fronted on 8th St, now

  Glenbrook Dr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The Garland Hotel stood on the northwest

  corner of present State and 5th St. The building

  was originally part of a dormitory constructed

  at the northeast corner of present Avenue A

  and 9th St. for Garland College.  The hotel

  burned in 1932.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    “The Ford House” was opened here ca. 1917 

  by Carl M. Brown to complement his operation

  in Mesquite. Besides featuring automobiles,

  the showroom served as a hangout for local

  business and professional men. Still standing

  at 614 Main St., the building subsequently

  housed the city’s Chevrolet dealership.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In the back shop of The Garland News Roy Rogers,

Gordon Holford and Fred Holmes (l-r) set type and

 laid out the paper’s pages ca. 1925. Rogers later helped

 start The Garland Tribune; Holford was the son of News
 publisher W. A. Holford and Holmes became the

 publisher's son-in-law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Morrison's Garage, shown here

  ca. 1920, provided gas, tires and

  mechanic service to the exploding

  population of automobile owners in the

  early 20th century. This establishment

  was located at the S.E. corner of present

  Main and Seventh Sts., neither of which

  was a hard-surface road at this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Morrison’s Garage, shown here during the

  late ‘20s in its brick-veneered incarnation

  that replaced an earlier version, reflects

  the growing success of auto-related

  businesses.  The building hosted Pontiac

  and Ford dealerships when such businesses

  were located downtown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    This service station, pictured here in the 1930s,

  was the genesis of various enterprises operated

  by various members of the Shugart family for

  more than 50 years. From this foothold at the

  northeast corner of present Main and Glenbrook,

  the family expanded east and north, adding home

  appliances and furniture to the usual inventory

  of Sinclair Oil products. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The "A&P" Grocery Store opened at the

  southeast corner of the square in 1926.

  The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.

  was Garland's first national chain gracer,

  and unlike most of the locally owned stores,

  they ran a cash-and-carry business. Shown

  here ca. 1936 are manager P.H. Burleson

  and employee Barney Nichols.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The Whiteway Service Station operated on

  the north side of the Bankhead Highway, now

  Main St., between 7th and 8th (now Glenbrook).

  Shown ca. 1930, it boasted the city's first

  hydraulic lift, where captivated locals congregated

  to watch "that grease rack" move up and down.

  The structure was later converted into a drive-in

  facility for a nearby bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A fountain on the square once bore a plaque

  honoring those from the community who lost

  their lives during WWI. This northeast image

  features Nicholson Memorial Hall, which was

  created in 1933 from the former home of a bank,

  whose sign still shows. The memorial plaque is

  now located at the Garland Senior Center. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Roy Rogers and Smiley Burnette got a special

  welcome when they visited Garland in 1938 to

  promote their new picture "Under Western Stars,"

  shown at the Plaza Theater downtown. Their

  route to the ceremonies on the square took

  them directly under these banners on Main

  Street. Eventually voted best picture of the

  year, the film provided Rogers his first starring

  movie role as a singing cowboy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Roy Rogers and Smiley Burnette flanked

  Garland High School band director Howard

  Taylor in front of Nicholson Memorial Hall

  for this 1938 photo. The school band turned

  out  for the Garland Theater's promotion of

  Under Western Stars, later voted the best

  western of that year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Scogins Cafe, owned by Fulton and

  Ollie Scogin, is pictured here about the

  time of it's opening in October of 1945.

  Formerly operated as Boyd's Cafe, the

  redecorated eatery was located on the

  north side of Bankhead Ave., now Main

  Street,between 1st and 3rd Sts. and

  advertised "Garland's Finest Foods."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Home Ice and Fuel Company arrived in 1926,

  before the proliferation of electric refrigerators.

  Their Zero Locker Storage operation, also

  located west of 5th between State and present

  Main Sts., provided bulk cold storage for

  Garlandites. This picture of the "ice house"

  crew with  promotional horse-drawn wagon,

  dates from the early 1940s.
           

 

 

 

 

 

    The Anderson & Routh Service Station,

  located at 129 Bankhead (now Main), is

  shown about the time it was opened after

  the close of WWII. A haunt for

  local fisherman of all ages, the station

  sold boating supplies, fishing gear and

  minnows as well as gasoline. Business

  continued under the surviving  partner,

  Cecil "Utz" Routh, until 1983.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Nicholson Memorial Hall was donated to

  the city by W. R. Nicholson of Longview in

  memory of his mother, Missouri A. Nicholson,

  and his brother, former Garland mayor S. E.

  Nicholson. Both died of injuries sustained in

  the cyclone that struck here in May of 1927.

  Already expanded from its beginnings on the

  northeast corner of the square in the 1890s

  as home for the Citizens National Bank, the

  building was remodeled to house a library on

  the first floor with city offices and a council

  chamber upstairs.
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Scott Sandwich Shop, shown here in the

  early '50's,debuted on Christmas Day in

  1933 offering 10-cent hamburgers and

  35-cent plate lunches around the clock.

  Glen and Roxie Scott's eatery soon became

  a regular stop for Garlandites of all ages.

  The shop was grouped with a service

  station, tourist court and veterinary office

  at the present site of Bank Onebuilding

  on the west side of S. Garland Ave.

  Scott's closed in 1964.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Lighted Christmas decorations with stars

  and tinsel were strung over central area

  streets during the 1950s and 1960s. This

  view, exposed ca 1957, looks east on

  State St. toward Nicholson Memorial Hall,

  which housed the city's library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Garland firefighters collected and repaired

  Christmas toys for the city's underprivileged

  children. In this work session, held during the

  mid 1950s at the bus barn next to the Central

  Fire Station on Austin St., firemen Gene

  Walker and Dennis Farmer reviewed

  collections for one of the collection drives.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


         

 

 

 

    An aerial photograph looks east between

  present Main and State Sts. ca. 1958, when

  the downtown water tower was still in place.

  The Nicholson Hall and Library was still

  standing on the east side of the square, then

  used for parking,and the present city hall lay

  years into the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Goldin Tire and Appliance originated in 1946

 as a tire store, offering tires not only for automobiles,

 but also the tractors that still crawled over farmland

 around town. Appliance lines were added in the ‘50s.
 Pictured at the NE corner of 5th and Main Sts. ca. 1960

 are (l-r) Al Horton, store owner Art Goldin and

 John Washington.