Garner is a town in

Wake County Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, United States and a suburb of

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

. The population is 31,159 as of the 2020 Census. The city limits are entirely within Wake County, though portions of

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Wake County, as well as the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

community in northern Johnston County, have Garner mailing addresses. It is part of the

Research Triangle The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to ...

region of North Carolina and serves as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for the region.

Geography

Garner is located at (35.698243, -78.622865). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.34%, is water. Garner is located entirely within

. There are

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

s of Wake County and Johnston County that have Garner postal addresses, including a portion of the unincorporated, but densely populated, Cleveland Community.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 31,159 people, 11,642 households, and 7,637 families residing in the town.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 17,757 people, 6,950 households, and 4,830 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 1,385.1 people per square mile (534.8/km). There were 7,252 housing units at an average density of 565.7 per square mile (218.4/km). The racial makeup of the town was 67.02%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 27.13%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.41% Native American, 1.11%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 2.77% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.54% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 4.75% of the population. There were 6,950 households, out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 24.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.00. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $47,380, and the median income for a family was $58,302. Males had a median income of $37,359 versus $29,805 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $22,433. About 4.9% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 8.9% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

Land near the town of Garner was first settled around 1751. In the 1850s, the

North Carolina Railroad The North Carolina Railroad is a state-owned rail corridor extending from Morehead City, North Carolina to Charlotte, North Carolina. The railroad carries over seventy freight trains offered by the Norfolk Southern Railway and eight passenger t ...

was built, and before the 1870s, a wood-and-water stop was established in present-day downtown Garner. The community of Garner's Station received a post office in 1878 and was incorporated in 1883, but the community had its charter repealed in 1891. In 1905, the charter was reinstated as the Town of Garner. The first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

was J.B. Richardson, and the first

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

were H.D. Rand, J.J. Bagwell, H. Bryan, M.C. Penny, and J.S. Buffaloe. In 1912, the

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

came to Garner. The town is off of

US 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States. ...

, which in 1917 became the first paved highway to be built in North Carolina.Town of Garner website, Town History An explosion and partial roof collapse of a

ConAgra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

plant on June 9, 2009, killed four and injured some 40 workers. The Downtown Garner Historic District, Edenwood, and

Meadowbrook Country Club Meadowbrook Country Club is a country club in Northville Township, Wayne County, near Northville, Michigan. The idea for Meadowbrook Country Club, a private golf and social club, came about in 1916 when 23 Northville businessmen purchased of the ...

are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Government

City Council and City Manager

Garner currently operates under a

council–manager government The council–manager government is a form of local government used for municipalities, counties, or other equivalent regions. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States along with the mayor–council govern ...

whereby the Town Council is the publicly elected legislative body of the town, and appoints a Town Manager to manage the administrative operations of the town. The Town Council consists of the Mayor and five Town Council Members, one of whom serves as Mayor "Pro Tempore." * Ken Marshburn, Mayor * Kathy Behringer, Council Member, Mayor Pro-Tem * Demian Dellinger, Council Member * Phil Matthews, Council Member * Gra Singleton, Council Member * Elmo Vance, Council Member Since March 2016, Rodney Dickerson has served as the Town Manager.

City Police Department

As of 2019, the Garner Police Department has 68 sworn police officers and 10 professional staff personnel (including full-time and part-time staff) to provide law enforcement services to a town roughly 16 square miles in area with a permanent residential population of over 31,000 citizens. The Department is divided into two bureaus—the Operations Bureau and the Administration Bureau. Since October 2020, Joe Binns has served as Garner's Chief of Police.

Library

Garner's library service began in 1928 and was formed by the Garner's Women's Club, which operated and staffed the library with volunteer workers Today, Garner's

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

is the Southeast Regional Library, which is a regional facility operated by Wake County Public Libraries. The library offers Wake County Public Library's child and adult services, which include storytimes, adult craft programs, computer use, and other free activities for the community. In 2020, as part of Wake County Public Library's Fine Free program, Southeast Regional Library has stopped collecting fines for books that are returned late. In June 2020, Southeast Regional Library began offering Wake County's Books on the Go program, a contactless book retrieval service that allows patrons to request and receive books from the library while it is closed due to COVID-19

Employment

According to Garner's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the town were: In 2020, Amazon began operations at a new Fulfillment Center in Garner and is expected to hire 3,000 full time employees.

Transportation

Roads

Several major roads and highways serve Garner: *

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

passes by the north and east sides of Garner. The town can be accessed via South Saunders Street (Exit 298-A), Hammond Road (Exit 299), Jones Sausage Road (Exit 303), or US 70 (Exit 306-B). * U.S. 70 serves as the main east–west highway through Garner. Most of the businesses and shopping centers lie on U.S. 70. * U.S. 401 splits from U.S. 70 at the town's northwestern corner and runs to the west of the town. * N.C. 50 enters the town with U.S. 401 and U.S. 70 at the northwestern corner, then splits from U.S. 70 at Benson Road, serving as a major north–south arterial through Garner, and paralleling I-40 into Johnston County. * N.C. 42 is an east–west highway south of Garner. Though outside of the town limits proper, it serves many addresses in unincorporated parts of Wake and Johnston counties with Garner addresses. *Timber Drive is an extension of Hammond Road that serves as a major arterial to connect residential areas of Garner with U.S. 70 and I-40. *Garner Road is a former alignment of U.S. 70 that parallels it along the town's northern edge.

Public transportation

Garner is served by the GoRaleigh bus routes 7 and 40x, both serving the shopping centers around Garner Station. In October 2019, GoRaleigh bus route 20 replaced the rush-hour-only service of

GoTriangle The Research Triangle Regional Public Transportation Authority, known as GoTriangle (previously Triangle Transit and Triangle Transit Authority or TTA), provides regional bus service to the Research Triangle region of North Carolina in Wake, Durha ...

bus route 102 with all-day service. Route 20 connects Downtown Garner with Downtown Raleigh as well as the shopping centers at White Oak, Timber Crossing, and Forest Hills, the Garner Town Hall, the Southeast Regional Library, and the Garner Police Station. Addition service is provided to seniors and those with disabilities through GoWake Access. This service provides door-to-door service to eligible residents that may have difficulties using traditional public transportation.

Rail

Amtrak passes through Garner but does not have a scheduled stop. The nearest station is in

Air

The nearest commercial airport with regular passenger service is

Raleigh-Durham International Airport The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to th ...

. General aviation services can also be found at the

Triple W Airport Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

in Fuquay-Varina or the Raleigh East Airport in Knightdale.

Education

The following schools serve students in and around Garner. Most, but not all, are located within the town limits of Garner. With few exceptions, school districts in North Carolina are organized at the county level, and students are often assigned to schools without regard to which municipality they live in.

Wake County public schools The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) is a public school district located in Wake County, North Carolina. With 157,673 students in average daily membership and 194 schools as of the 2021–2022 school year, it is the largest public sch ...

: * Aversboro Elementary School * Bryan Road Elementary School * Creech Road Elementary School * East Garner Elementary School * Rand Road Elementary School * Smith Magnet Elementary School * Timber Drive Elementary School * Vandora Springs Elementary School * Vance Elementary School * East Garner Middle School * North Garner Middle School *

Garner Magnet High School Garner Magnet High School (GMHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Garner, North Carolina, United States, a city southeast of Raleigh. The school was founded as Garner Senior High School (GSHS), which graduated its first class in 1969. Gar ...

South Garner High School South Garner High School is a school in Garner, North Carolina, near the Research Triangle area. It is a part of Wake County Public Schools. The mascot is the Titan, and the school colors are platinum and purple. History The building opened in 2 ...

Johnston County public schools: * Polenta Elementary School * West View Elementary School * Cleveland Middle School The original campus of the

Governor Morehead School Governor Morehead School (GMS), formerly North Carolina State School for the Blind and Deaf, is a K–12 public school for the blind in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the era of de jure educational segregation in the United States, it served blind peo ...

, a state-operated school for blind white students and blind and deaf black students, was in Garner.
Clipping
at

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

. In 1923 white blind students were moved to Raleigh. The desegregation plan in the 1960s called for all deaf students to be moved to

North Carolina School for the Deaf The North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD) is a state-supported residential school for deaf children established in 1894, in Morganton, North Carolina, US. History In 1845, W.D. Cooke was hired by the state and a school was opened in ...

and

Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf (ENCSD) is a public school for the deaf in Wilson, North Carolina. Its service area is defined by the state as the 54 counties to the east. There were parents in the east of the state wishing for their ...

, while blind students were moved to Raleigh.

Notable people

Brandon Banks Brandon Desean Banks (born December 21, 1987) is an American Canadian football wide receiver and return specialist who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He wa ...

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

wide receiver and return specialist *

Chris Culliver Christopher LaBarren Culliver II (born August 17, 1988) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at South Carolina. Early life Culli ...

, NFL cornerback *

Carl Franks Carl Franks (born December 1, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the running backs coach at Bethune–Cookman University. Franks served as the head football coach at Duke University from 1999 to 2003, com ...

, former

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

head football coach and former

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

assistant coach * Tom Gulley, former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player *

Donnie Harrison Donnie Harrison is an American retired law enforcement officer who served as the Sheriff of Wake County, North Carolina from 2002 to 2018. Prior to taking the position, he was for 26 years a law enforcement officer in Wake County with the North Car ...

, former sheriff of

Wake County, North Carolina Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...

Nyheim Hines Nyheim Hines ( ; born November 12, 1996) is an American football running back and punt returner for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at NC State, and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in ...

, NFL running back * Arlie Honeycutt, Miss North Carolina 2012 *

James Mays James Dixon Mays (born March 8, 1986) is an American-born naturalized Central African professional basketball player for Shandong Heroes of the Chinese Basketball Association. He represented the Central African Republic at the 2011 FIBA Africa Ch ...

, professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player *

Scotty McCreery Scott Cooke McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American country music singer. He rose to fame after winning the tenth season of ''American Idol'' on May 25, 2011. His debut studio album, '' Clear as Day'', was released in October 2011 and w ...

, ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' season 10 winner * Manny Perez, professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player *

Sarah Shook River Shook (born September 15, 1985), known professionally by her birth name Sarah Shook, is an American Country music, country singer-songwriter from Chatham County, North Carolina. Their "high lonesome" style incorporates Cowpunk, country-pu ...

, country music singer *

John Wall Johnathan Hildred Wall Jr. (born September 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Wall was chosen with the first overa ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player *

Pat Watkins Patrick Watkins (born December 18, 1982) is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers. He also was a member of the Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Foo ...

, MLB outfielderPat Watkins Stats
''Baseball-Reference''. Retrieved July 16, 2020. * David West, NBA player and 2003

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Player-of-the-Year at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

* Donald Williams, professional basketball player

References

External links

Town of Garner official website

Garner Chamber of Commerce

Garner Parks and Recreation
{{authority control Populated places established in 1847 Towns in North Carolina Towns in Wake County, North Carolina 1847 establishments in North Carolina