On Track Newsletter

On Track is a quarterly publication of the Garland Landmark Society, filled with features and pictures delving into Garland history and information on activities of the Society. Now edited by Robert D. Compton, a member of the Landmark Society’s board of directors, it also prints short news items from the files of community newspapers of the past, dating to the 1800s.

Below are links to past and current issues of On Track newsletter:


Volume 22, Issue 1

  • Bootlegging in Garland: The Prohibition Years Part 3


Volume 21, Issue 2

  • Bootlegging in Garland: The Prohibition Years Part 2

Volume 21, Issue 1

  • Bootlegging in Garland: The Prohibition Years Part 1

Volume 20, Issue 1

Volume 19, Issue 3

  • George Wilson Crossman, Sr.

Volume 19, Issue 2

  • 1899 Fire in downtown Garland
  • Charlie Coker
  • 1899 Fire in downtown Garland
  • Tom Mealer’s Confectionary & Restaurant
  • W.W. McGully Drugs
  • Citizens National Bank

Volume 19, Issue 1

  • 1899 Fire in downtown Garland
  • Thomas Newton Hickman

Volume 18, Issue 4

  • Fire Brings a Square to Downtown – Part 1: A history and redesign primer

Volume 18, Issue 3

  • Cole & Davis – Garland’s Oldest Department Store

Volume 18, Issue 2

  • Cabooses & the Garland Railroads

Volume 18, Issue 1

  • Garland Emergency Corps (GEC)

Volume 17, Number 4

  • Charles Garrett, Garland’s “Indiana Jones”

Volume 17, Issue 3

  • Garland Tamale Man John L. Carpenter

Volume 17, Issue 2

  • Garland shark fossils – Paleontology

Volume 17, Issue 1

  • Hatton W. Sumners

Volume 16, Issue 3

  • Roosevelt’s NRA (National Recovery Act)

Volume 16, Issue 2

  • Constables, Sheriffs and the Law in Early Garland

Volume 16, Issue 1

  • Garland Shopping Center from 1951 to the present

Volume 15, Issue 2

  • Cook’s Forest Lane Cafe
  • The Way We Were

Volume 15, Issue 1

  • The Time It Never Rained – Texas’ Historic 1950’s Drought
  • A Man Paid to Make It Rain

Volume 13, Issue 4

  • What Lies Beneath,Garland topsoil covers millions-years history
  • Spring Creek Preserve protects ecosystem
  • Ancient axe added to Landmark collection
  • Phil McMullen Built His Dream House and Warren Ling has re-imagined it

Volume 13, Issue 3

  • 1918: Year of Armistice, flu pandemic – Garland had no answer for virus attack
  • Treatment guide of the period was hopelessly inadequate
  • Calomel, commonly prescribed, was ineffective

Volume 13, Issue 2

  • State looks to Garlandites for leadership roles
  • In historic Turin, Italy, a touch of Garland
  • When the ‘Candy Man’ came to town

Volume 13, Issue 1

  • What to do with Hypermart?
  • He helped Walmart become a leading U.S. grocer
  • For now, property’s future is uncertain

Volume 12, Issue 4

  • After 70 years, a major vacancy
  • Raytheon leaving old Luscombe site for Richardson

Volume 12, Issue 3

  • When Garland had a ‘Dizzy’ spell . .
  • Lost at the crossing
  • Playing ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ on hunting trip
  • A favorite of fans, but not English teachers

Volume 12, Issue 2

  • The house . . .that Hap built
  • ‘Bankhead Highway’ author will be Landmark’s speaker
  • Design was fun, but lumber was his business
  • Plaza Theatre: Manzer’s monument

Volume 11, Issue 4

  • Beneath the paint, hidden history
  • Some early Garland settlers
  • Family history articles rediscovered
  • Embree, Duck Creek, Garland: Then and now
  • The way things were. . .

Volume 11, Issue 3

  • Rededication: City’s past, future meet
  • The past meets the future
  • Celebrating Garland history at Heritage Crossing
  • City creates first historic district
  • Thomas Daniel: A man for all seasons

Volume 12, Issue 1

  • City strengthens Heritage Crossing plan
  • Coordinator will oversee Crossing marketing, act as liaison between city, Landmark
  • Citizen participation still is greatest need

Volume 11, Issue 2

  • HERITAGE GALA SET FOR MAY 31
  • Landmark leaders are re-elected
  • He led the city at peak of its boom years
  • Mary Dingle, valued member, former officer of Landmark
  • The plunge into civic activities came early
  • DEPOT MUSEUM READY AT NEW SITE
  • Dallas Heritage Village: Structures lost and found

Volume 11, Issue 1

  • After delays, Museum re-opening set for May
  • Willis Winters: A man for all seasons
  • Kennedy Memorial
  • Garland, the musical

Volume 10, Issue 4

  • A new address, a new look
  • A signature symbol for downtown entryway
  • The man who gave an elementary school its name

Volume 10, Issue 3

  • The oldest established . . .
  • High-jacked! Reprieved from demolition, period houses await new fate

Volume 10, Issue 2

  • All Aboard! Next Stop: 6th Street at Landmark Depot Crossing
  • Dallas Dealey Plaza: Two new beginnings for Lyndon Johnson
  • Garland Central Park Gets “Legacy” Designation
  • President Janice Black, other Landmark officers, re-elected

Volume 10, Issue 1

  • When War Came. Defense plants fueled Garland’s growth

Volume 9, Issue 4

  • The Way We Were: Landmark’s Legacy Created in 1972 to co!ect and preserve the city’s history, Society nears its 40th anniversary
  • In Memoriam: Mary Ann Wooldridge

Volume 9, Issue 3

  • Site Seeing. Landmark’s new website offers much information, easy access

Volume 9, Issue 1

  • Sic transit gloria arboris. Farewell, Good Cemetery Oak
  • Roach Feed & Seed: Changing with city
  • What lies beneath Garland’s Public Square?

Volume 8, Issue 4a

  • IN MEMORY OF A BOY, A GARLAND PARK
  • LANDMARK MOURNS WEBSITE CREATOR. HOWALD LAUNCHED MUSEUM’S PAGES IN 2005
  • Landmark member’s search led to story
  • Garland Little League, then and now
  • Roach Feed & Seed: A work in progress

Volume 8, Issue 4

  • The Maimed Attraction. Prized Pu!man rots away for lack of renovation funds
  • NEW OFFICERS NAMED TO FILL TREASURER, SECRETARY POSITIONS
  • Sachse museum nearing its fifth birthday

Volume 8, Issue 2

  • Fair Park, then and now. RESTORER TRACES HISTORY OF DALLAS PARK
  • HISTORICAL QUARTERLY PRAISES LANDMARK’S KATE JAMES BOOK
  • Times remembered, from the Garland Landmark Society Photo Archives
  • New book tells the story of Garland football from 1906 through 2009
  • Randy Howald: Landmark’s Webmaster
  • New exhibits underway, more planned for depot

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