Whether you live on a piece of Garland real estate or not, learning about the economic history of the town can be a fascinating endeavor. While the city is known today as a suburb of Dallas, for many years it was fully autonomous and built up an economic infrastructure of its own. Let's take a look at the exciting manufacturing history of this city.
The first major production in Garland was the city's energy supply. Several businessmen in the area, who owned small retail stores and the like, put their money together to build an electrical generator plant of their own. This plant was state of the art for its day, although it lacked the process calibrator operators, computer controlled systems, and safety features of today's plants.
The generator plant was a huge success, and led to the establishment of diversified businesses who could now connect directly to a power grid within the city. The plant still operates today, as the foundation of Garland Power and Light. Of course, today the plant is complete with crimp terminals, software, and all the other modern equipment which allows our huge power needs to be fulfilled on a daily basis.
Garland hit on hard times during the Great Depression, but began to recover in the 1930s starting with the food industry. Craddock foods moved operations to the city. The company packaged their products with ratchet straps and shipped them to points all over the United States of America.
During this time one of the most enduring and visible symbols of Garland manufacturing would also move operations to the city. Byer-Rolnick, makers of hats, began production in the city in 1934. Today, that plant is owned by the Resistol company, one of the largest hat producers in the world. In particular, Resistol is known for its cowboy hats, worn by all the employees of the city (even those who just operate a pin mixer) as well as by many celebrities and other public figures.
The World War II years saw a huge increase in the production capacity of Garland, just as it did everywhere else. The Air Force had a number of different plants in the area. Lead products were shipped in to add armor to the B-52s and other planes made in the city.
The end of the war saw the plants turned over to different companies, including Kraft foods. The manufacturing sector of Garland continues to do well today, although it has been supplanted in importance by the tourism and service sectors.
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