The Garland Landmark Society, Inc.
Downtown Garland
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Garland Lumber Co., occupied the west half
of the block bounded by This 1915 image, looking northwest from present Main St., shows the yard stacked high with wagonloads of materials for city and
farm construction.
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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.
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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.
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"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.
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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.
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“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.
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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's son-in-law.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. are (l-r) Al Horton, store owner Art Goldin and John Washington.
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