Santa Fe Railroad Depot
Garland, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Constructed in 1901 by the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, and designed by a railroad systems engineer. Replaced an earlier depot built when the city of Garland was founded in 1888. No exterior alterations were made, and only a waiting room partition and restroom facilities were added inside. Served in early years as a shipping point for farm produce. Moved here from its original site (150 yards SW) in 1972 by the city of Garland as a landmark museum. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1974 Supplemental plate: Relocated again in 2013 from the NE corner of Museum Dr. and State St. to present site.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad built this depot in Garland in 1901, replacing an earlier one from the town's 1888 founding, and designed it through a railroad systems engineer. In its working years it was a shipping point for local farm produce, its exterior left unaltered over time. Garland saved the building as a landmark museum, moving it in 1972 and again in 2013 to its present site.
Why it matters
Small-town depots like this one were the economic hinge of the railroad age, the place where a farming community's crops met the national market and where a town's prosperity often rose or fell.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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