Pearland City Hall is located at 3519 Liberty Drive, Pearland, TX 77581.
Phone: 281‑652‑1600.
Neighborhoods
Beginnings [1]
The combination of railroads and fertile soil played an important part in the establishment of Pearland. Similar to many other Texas cities, Pearland was settled by immigrants from the north lured by the opportunities in the garden spots of the south.
A land grant in 1882 formed the basis of this area of the Texas coastal plain which later became Pearland. In 1883, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad completed a line from Houston to Alvin that passed through the area and a freight depot was the community's first building. The area first became known as Mark Belt, named after an individual who lived nearby. In 1892, W. Zychlinski (rumored to be a Polish Count) platted the townsite and started selling lots. The settlement was renamed Pearland in 1894. In 1894, the Southern Homestead Company acquired most of the remaining land, and changed the name to Pear Land because of the pear orchards growing nearby. The Southern Homestead Company conducted advertising campaigns in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Houston to attract settlers. By 1900, Pearland had a drug store, a hardware store, a lumberyard, a hotel, a school and a newspaper called the Pearland Advocate.
But on September 6 of that year, a hurricane destroyed most of what had been built, along with many of the pear orchards. Those who stayed to rebuild, made their living by using the railroad as a shipping point for hay and livestock. Rice farming also became popular. In the early 1930's, the Hastings, Friendswood and Manvel oil fields were discovered, and as Pearland became a boom town, it earned the nickname Six Shooter Junction. By then, rice had become the main cash crop in Brazoria County. Together, oil and rice dramatically changed the economic base of the Texas Gulf Coast.