“We have a hat that even Big Tex would approve of.”

Amy Rosenthal
Cultural Arts Director
City of Garland
.…on last Saturday’s “The Big Hat” installation in Garland, which is known as the Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas, via NBC 5 DFW.

Hats off to Garland, the Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas. It got that title from the Texas Legislature in 2013 in recognition of the city’s three hat manufacturers, HatCo, Master Hatters of Texas, and Dorfman Milano. Together, they roll out more than a million cowboy hats each year with labels including Stetson, Justin, Resistol, and Scala. The city only needed one more thing—a really big hat—and now it’s got that, too.

On Saturday, the city unveiled The Big Hat in the Downtown Garland Square. Designed and built by Fort Worth’s Mello Designs and Signs, the plus-sized head topper got a “Hats Off Salute” including remarks from Mayor Dylan Hedrick and State Representatives Angie Chen Button and Linda Garcia.

Officially designated as the biggest cowboy hat in Texas, The Big Hat is 20 feet long, 16 feet wide, 6 feet tall, and looms 15 feet in the air. It’s already spawned countless Instagram posts from its perch above the square at 420 Main Street in Garland.

The installation is funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Garland Cultural Arts Commission, with additional support from the city of Garland and its partners, including the Downtown Development Office, Parks & Recreation Department, Visit Garland, Public & Media Relations, and Cultural Arts.

You can learn more about Garland’s hat history by checking out “Hats Off to Garland,” an exhibit produced by Heritage Crossing and the Garland Landmark Society at the Landmark Museum, 393 N. Sixth St. in downtown Garland, now through Feb. 28.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.