Friendswood Timeline

1824

Empresario Stephen F. Austin granted a league of land, that today encompasses Friendswood, to John R. Williams. Williams disappeared, failed to prove his grant, and thus was required to forfeit it. Hosea H. League (a friend of Austin) bought the league in 1829.

1851

That league acquired Sarah McKissick's name through a first class headright grant of one league and one labor of land made to her in the District Court of Washington County.

1854

Three generations of inter-related Butler, Perkins, and Coward families came by ox-cart from Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. Bringing their belongings and their slaves, they settled in the area between present West Friendswood and League City and became ranchers. The Coward family built a home near the creek that now carries the family name.

1872

The families ran cattle on a large scale. It was a series of range wars with the Samuel W. Allen ranchers on the opposite side of Clear Creek, that caused the murder of Green Butler. It happened at his cabin in the location now known as Friendswood's Stevenson Park.

1890

By this time, Galveston businessman/entrepreneur J.C. League owned all of the property that is now Friendswood.

1895

Quaker families, Frank J. Brown, T. Hadley Lewis and A.W. Lewis came into the arena in search of a location for a Quaker community dedicated to God. They had been part of such a settlement in West Texas (Estacado) that was disbanded due to harsh circumstances. Negotiating with J.C. League, they acquired the rights to the 1,535 acres they considered their "Promisied Land". The name "Friendswood" was registered at the Galveston County Court House July 16, 1895.

1896

More Quaker families from mid-west and eastern states joined the settlement. They constructed a small building to serve as church and school in the center of the settlement simultaneously as they built their homes and started farming. A saw mill Brown and Lewis had constructed on Clear Creek provided much of the lumber required.

1899

Twenty-two year old widow Flora Knode was appointed U.S. Postmaster of Friendswood, and daily mail was brought from League City by horseback.

1900

The deadly Galveston Hurricane left Friendswood in shambles. The church/school building was demolished, homes were badly damaged or gone, but there was no loss of life.

1901

The twenty families set to work to rebuild. Lumber was milled from the trees downed by the storm and used to construct a large two-story building to house their church and school. It was built in the style used by Quakers in all their settlements and called The Academy.

1907

The first business opened. It was a small general merchandise store on the main street and owned by Quaker C. J. Hadley. He operated it until his death in 1935.

1910

By 1910, Friendswood had a telephone line, a store, a bridge across the creek and a graded road to Webster. By 1912, Friendswood also had graded roads to Alvin, League City, and Pearland.

1912

The whole Guild Coast area was advertised as a "garden" of Satsuma oranges, rice, and especially figs. Farmers, other than Quakers, were attracted to the "fig boom". The first fig preserving plant in Galveston County was a joint operation in Friendswood for Quaker Nereus Stout and Houstonian J.C. Carpenter.

1914

The settlement constructed a two-room schoolhouse across the street from the Academy for grades 1 through 8. Before this, all grades were taught in the Academy building.

1915

Another hurricane, rivaling the 1900 storm, did major damage and frightened a few of the newcomes into selling their farms and leaving the Gulf Coast.

1919

Houstonian John Ruhl opened a fig preserving plant in Friendswood to capitalize on the abundance of figs available. The fig industry grew to 17,000 acres and 18 fig preserving plants in the seven counties along the Gulf Coast.

1924

Cecil Brown, son of founder Frank J. Brown, opened a fig preserving plant that remained in operation until 1958. It provided a market for the farmers' figs and employment for women, youth, and men.

1929

The Despression reduced the success of the fruitful fig industry along the Guld Coast. Friendswood had one of the few plants that survived; however times were not easy. Unable to finance their Academy, the Quakers closed the doors, and high school students traveled to Webster for the next ten years.

1930

More non-Quakers residents were attracted to Friendswood throughout the decade of the thirties. They were drawn to work in the orchards and in the oil fields that had just been brought in east of Friendswood, and west of Friendswood. No oil was found "in" Friendswood. Some of the newcomers chose to become Quakers. Electricity was now available in the center part of the settlement.

1939

A $100,000 state-of-the-art brick school building to house all 11 grades was dedicated. The school population was 118 students. Friendswood's population was 300.

1940

During the decade of the forties, Friendswood attracted young families looking for a rural setting for their children. It also attracted a few Houston business owners and professionals who built estate homes along Clear Creek.

1945

Cloverfield Airport in West Friendswood was developed by Perry Brown, one of founder Frank Brown's grandsons. Under different ownership, it still serves private and small business airplanes.

1949

The Friends Church dedicated the new church facility, built of Austin stone, to replace the old frame Academy church/school building.

1950

Still rural, still remote, and Friendswood was still without a "business section". It did have the Albritton General Merchandise (formely Hadley). A few local independent businesses appeared along the main street during this decade: Smith Texaco, Workman Cafe, Glines Barbershop, Baker Supermarket, Havard Lumber, etc.

1951

Volunteer Fire Department was organized and recorded with the state. By 1955, the VFD reported they were serving 186 households.

1953

Southwestern Bell replaced crank phones and party lines with rotary dialing.

1955

Friendswood had celebrated the Fourth of July since 1896 in some manner. In 1955 the custom of a Fourth of July Parade was begun.

1956

The Gas Utilities Service Co. of Angleton provided natural gas to the community.

1957

Construction to provide a city water and sewage distribution system got underway.

1958

The Baptist Church was the first of many churches to build in Friendswood.

1959

Fig orchards quickly disappeared as farmers sold their acreage to developers. The old farmhouses were demolished to make way for new housing.

1960

The 1960 census counted 960 persons. On November 1, 1960, the community became an incorporated General Law City. Friendswood had evolved from a community of farmers to a small town of commuters.

1961

First city election chose a Mayor, Councilmen and a Marshal. September 19, 1961, Carla inundated the coast. It claimed no lives in Friendswood, but caused considerable wind and rain damage. NASA announced site to be located 8 miles east.

1964

Streets and houses continued populating the farm lands. A school building to house junior and senior high students opened. First city taxes were collected. City budget $10,700. First traffic light installed. More independent businesses opened on the main street, including the first bank and Brown's pharmacy Chamber of Commerce was incorporated.

1965

Newcomers and old-timers volunteered their labor to construct a 9,000 square foot building to serve as city hall, fire station, police station and a library. The facility opened free of debt Augsut 10.

1970

The population now exceeded 5,000. The first newspaper, Friendswood News, was issued December 17th. The city built a 5,122 square foot building to house the library.

1971

Friendswood finally appeared on the Texas highway map. Heritage Gardeners spearheaded a project to build a replica of the founder's home which now serves as a museum to house early Friendswood artifacts. New facilities for elementary, junior high and high school were added during this decade.

1974

Two-lane FM 518 became a four-lane paved road with curbs, gutters, and landscaped esplanade.

1979

Tropical Storm Claudette assaulted the Gulf Coast July 25th. Friendswood had no loss of life, but three-fourths of its homes (est. 1,000) suffered up to 7 or 8 feet of water.

1980

During this decade most of the independent businesses closed as the proliferation of chains and franchises changed the face of the main street. Many professional offices opened to service a growing population of over 10,000.

1985

The city annexed eight square miles across Clear Creek (in Harris County) raising the area within city limits to 22 square miles. Friendswood was now served by 2 school districts: Clear Creek and Friendswood.

1993

Friendswood, with a population above 25,000 now had eighteen churches. While the community had not been predominatly a Quaker settlement since the 1930's, the Quaker church held a respected place in the heart of the community. The library now occupied a new building providing 16,000 square feet of space.

1995

Friendswood celebrated its Centennial with a year long schedule of events, highlighted by the Fourth of July Parade and the dedication of the new City Hall.

2007

City opened a new 27,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility to house the departments responsible for Friendswood's saftey. City budget now $29 million. Population passed 32,000.

1824 1851 1854 1872 1890 1895 1896 1899 1900 1901 1907 1910 1912 1914 1915 1919 1924 1929 1930 1939 1940 1945 1949 1950 1951 1953 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1964 1965 1970 1971 1974 1979 1980 1985 1993 1995 2007

Friendswood Texas

Friendswood Post Master Friendswood, situated on FM 518 in the northwest corner of Galveston County half-way between Houston and Galveston, has the distinction of being the only permanent town in Texas that started as a Quaker settlement. A State Historical Marker, erected in 1967, states that Friendswood was founded by a group of Quakers led by T. Hadley Lewis and Frank J. Brown. They were looking for a “promised land” to start a settlement of the people who belonged to the religious denomination called Friends or Quakers. The carefully thought-out name for the new settlement – FRIENDSWOOD – was registered at the Galveston County Courthouse July 16, 1895.

From its beginning, all life was centered around the church and school. After their small church and school building was demolished in the 1900 Galveston Storm, the two-dozen families erected a large two-story frame structure for their church and school. They used the lumber they milled from the trees that were felled by the Great Storm. The building, called The Academy, housed all grades until 1914, and a parochial high school until 1928. It served as the church sanctuary 1902 until 1949, when a larger, stone building replaced it. (Present-day location—502 S. Friendswood Dr.)

Through the 1940s, Friendswood was predominately a small, remote farming Quaker community with fewer than 500 persons. Their economy depended largely on growing and preserving Magnolia figs. After 1950, it became increasingly a suburban bedroom community as Houstonians discovered the idyllic country setting and farmlands were converted to subdivision home-sites. The community became a city when it incorporated in 1960 with 960 residents. By 1970, the population had grown to 5,675. By 1990, the count was 22,814. At the turn of the century the population passed 33,000. Friendswood Historical Museum

Today Friendswood is an attractive, growing, vibrant city with a strong sense of community and volunteerism, many businesses and churches and an Exemplary school district.

The vestiges of the Quaker homes and enterprises are mostly gone; however, the legacy of the values of family, God, education and community left by the founders remains. The story of the first 50 years of Friendswood is well documented and presented in the Frank J. Brown Heritage Museum at 108 Skyview.