Cecil and Frances Brown House
Friendswood, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Designed by Houston architect Henry A. Stubee and built in 1938, this was the home of local civic, church, and business leader Cecil Brown and his wife Frances. Both were from pioneer Quaker families. Mr. Brown was prominent in the Gulf Coast fig industry (1920s-1950s) and is credited with much of Friendswood's development. For many years after its construction, this French eclectic style house was the first and only brick residence in the Friendswood area. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1997
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Designed by Houston architect Henry A. Stubee and built in 1938, this French eclectic house was the home of civic and business leader Cecil Brown and his wife Frances, both from pioneer Quaker families. Brown was prominent in the Gulf Coast fig industry that flourished from the 1920s to the 1950s and is credited with much of Friendswood's development. For years it was the only brick residence in the area.
Why it matters
The house recalls the Quaker founders of Friendswood and the fig-growing industry that briefly made the Texas Gulf Coast famous.
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Related people
- · Cecil Brown
- · Frances Brown
- · Henry A. Stubee
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fig Industry in Friendswood
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In 1895 a Quaker colony took root on the Texas Gulf Coast at Friendswood, and one of its early settlers, former Kansas farmer Nereus Stout, discovered that figs thrived in the warm, damp climate. His success sparked a full-fledged local industry: by the 1910s preserving plants were turning the fruit into a dependable cash crop, and in the 1920s tiny Friendswood helped Galveston County supply half the figs grown across a seven-county stretch of coast. The orchards carried families through the Great Depression before fading after World War II, with the last coastal fig-preserving plant closing in 1968.
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