Old Settlers Cemetery
Pearland, Brazoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(0.2 miles west) Settlement of this area began as a result of railroad development through north Brazoria County in 1882. First known as Mark Belt, the townsite was platted in 1894 and named Pearland because of the abundance of pear orchards in the vicinity. An advertising campaign featuring favorable farm conditions brought many settlers to the area in the 1890s. Although some were discouraged by storm and freeze damage to their homes and crops in the early years, many remained and established permanent homes. A community graveyard was begun with the burial of pioneer Echolean C. Ackerly, who died August 11, 1894. Four years later her burial plot and the surrounding land was officially dedicated as a cemetery. Six Civil War veterans are interred in the graveyard. The cemetery contains many types of burials. The early practice of scraping the earth over graves was followed by cement paving, gravel cover, and bricking. Styles of gravestones range from simple stone markers to tombstones featuring elaborately carved decorations. Old Settlers Cemetery remained the primary community burial ground until 1936. It continues to serve as a reminder of Pearland's early history. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settlement here followed the railroad's arrival in north Brazoria County in 1882; the townsite, first called Mark Belt, was platted in 1894 and renamed Pearland for its abundant pear orchards. Boosters advertised favorable farm conditions to lure settlers in the 1890s, though storms and freezes tested their resolve. The community cemetery began with the 1894 burial of pioneer Echolean C. Ackerly and grew into a record of early Pearland, its graves ranging from scraped earth to elaborately carved tombstones—six Civil War veterans among them.
Why it matters
Railroad-driven townsites like Pearland show how rail lines conjured whole communities out of the countryside, a defining engine of American settlement in the late nineteenth century.
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Related people
- · Echolean C. Ackerly
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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The Duke Community grew from land granted in 1824 to three of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists—David Fitzgerald, who fought at Anahuac, Thomas Barnett, who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, and Moses Shipman. Perched on a high bluff above Clear Lake with ample water for steam engines, the site drew railroads by mid-century and became the terminus of the Sugar Land Railway, loading sugarcane at a bustling depot named for storekeeper Duke Hessey. With its store, hotel, and sugar mills, Duke thrived until its post office closed in 1922; today only its cemetery remains.
Robert L. and Julia Martin Hunter
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Robert Lee Hunter descended from Dr. Johnson Calhoun Hunter, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, and grew up on the family's Fort Bend County plantation. Around 1903 he sold his holdings and moved to Pearland, then known as Mark Belt, to raise cattle with his brother-in-law, and in 1905 he married Nebraska-born Julia Iva Martin, whose family had settled the area in 1894. Respected community members remembered for offering advice and hospitality to former slaves, the couple later had a Pearland park named in their honor.
Pearland and The Santa Fe Railroad
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Pearland began with a railroad siding called 'Mark Belt,' laid by the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe in 1883. A decade later William Zychlinski platted a townsite here, and developer S.M. Christensen planted pear and fruit trees to lure settlers—giving the town its name. A 1900 depot became the community's hub for mail, supplies, and shipping cotton, hay, and produce, and though the great 1900 storm slowed things, promotion of the area as an agricultural paradise fueled its growth before the depot finally closed in 1972.
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