Town Trivia
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  • The original name for Pearland was "Mark Belt".  There is
    question as to whether the name was for a settler named
    Mark Belt or whether that was a railroad term designating a
    water stop.  UPDATE: see the Photos page for answer.

  • Founder of Pearland was a Polish nobleman, Count Witold
    von Zychlinski. The original plat for the townsite was filed
    September 26, 1894.

  • The name on the original plat filed by Witold von Zychlinski
    was Pear Land.  Apparently the accepted spelling has always
    been Pearland since early pictures of the depot show very
    plainly “Pearland” – one word.

  • Telephone Road was so named because it ran along side of
    the first telephone lines strung from Houston to Alvin.

  • The first newspaper in Pearland was the “Pearland Advocate”
    established sometime around 1896.

  • Two of the 300 settlers in Moses Austin’s settlement, Dr.
    Johnson Calhoun Hunter and Israel Massey have
    descendents living in Pearland.

  • One of the early founders of Pearland, Samuel Pleasant
    Martin, was awarded a lot in the Pearland town site as a prize
    for being judged the most handsome man in Pearland.

  • The fruit which brought the most prosperity to Pearland was
    not the pear - -but the fig. Figs were a money crop for farmers
    in Pearland from the mid teens to the 40’s.

  • The original town site of Pearland was 520 acres extending
    from Orange Street to the north to Walnut Street to the south
    and from Galveston Street on the east to Austin Street on the
    west.

  • Pearland established a high school in 1937.  Prior to that time,
    high school students were bused to Webster High School.

  • Pearland High School’s athletic teams were the “Oilers” long
    before the Houston Oilers.  The name “Oilers” was adopted
    for the new high school in 1937.  The Houston Oilers came
    into existence in 1960.

  • Many of the streets in Pearland are named for early settlers –
    i.e. Yost Road, Hatfield Road, Lizer Road, Massey Highway,
    Stone Road, Doherty Road and Cunningham Street