About this tour
Pearland began as a real-estate dream planted on the coastal prairie. In 1894 a Polish immigrant named Witold von Zychlinski platted a townsite along the Santa Fe Railroad, saw the fruit trees taking hold, and christened the place "Pear-Land." A hurricane wiped out much of the young town in 1900, but the depot, the orchards, and the railroad brought settlers back, and over the following century Pearland grew from a farming stop into one of the fastest-growing suburbs in Texas. This driving tour visits the old-town heart around the original townsite and the pioneer cemetery, tracing the railroad, the founding families, and the institutions that carried Pearland from prairie to boomtown. Drive carefully and pull over safely at each stop.