La Marque
La Marque, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The land in this area, initially known as Highland Bayou, was part of a Republic of Texas land grant awarded to John D. Moore in 1838. The Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad linked Galveston and Houston by 1860, and Highland Bayou, directly on the rail line, began a period of significant growth. A post office opened in 1869, and in 1886, in response to a request from the U.S. Postal Service, a new name was chosen for the settlement. Alternately spelled Lamarque and La Marque, the new name appeared in official records as La Marque by 1900. The construction of an interurban electric railway line from Galveston to Houston in 1911 led to increased settlement in La Marque. The primary local business was agriculture, particularly dairy farming. Along with homes and businesses, social, education, and religious institutions flourished, as well. The rise of the petrochemical industry along the bay in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s changed the area's economic base, and La Marque developed as a residential area to serve industrial workers in nearby Texas City. An attempt by Texas City to annex La Marque in 1953 failed, and La Marque citizens voted to incorporate that same year. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The settlement that became La Marque grew from an 1838 Republic of Texas land grant along Highland Bayou, then boomed when the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad linked the two cities in 1860. A post office arrived in 1869, and by 1900 the community had settled on the French-flavored name La Marque, thriving on dairy farming and an interurban electric line to Houston. When the petrochemical industry rose along Galveston Bay in the mid-20th century, La Marque reinvented itself as a bedroom community for industrial workers, incorporating in 1953 after resisting annexation by neighboring Texas City.
Why it matters
La Marque's arc from rail-line farm town to petrochemical bedroom community mirrors how the Gulf Coast transformed from agriculture to heavy industry across the 20th century.
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Related people
- · John D. Moore
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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