The neighbourhood of Garneau is named after Lawrence (Laurent) Garneau, an early Métis settler that owned a sizable plot of land where the neighbourhood now stands. One of the oldest leagues in the city, Garneau Community League was founded in 1921 as the community Home and School Association to provide recreational facilities for the neighbourhood children. In 1962 the Garneau Community League became officially incorporated as a non-profit organization. When it was incorporated, the community league consisted of 5 main committees: tennis, lawn bowling, hockey/skating, playschool, and arts/crafts, though arts/crafts had been inactive for some time.

For a brief time, the Community League operated a community newspaper called the Garneau Guardian. The paper ran from 1979 to 1984 and published news concerning local events, activities of the Garneau Community League, services offered by the Community Centre, and news of municipal matters that would affect the community.

In 1980 the Community League undertook a building campaign to build a new and commercially viable community centre. The Community Centre hosted social events, programs, a pre-school, and a daycare. It was also from this building that the Lawn Bowling and Tennis Clubs operated. Eventually, the Community League turned the building over to the City of Edmonton which renamed it "The City Arts Centre".

The Garneau Community League also created the Garneau Planning Committee which was primarily concerned with the urban development of the Garneau neighbourhood. The Committee successfully challenged several high rise developments in the neighbourhood.