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RELOCATE TO CLEAR LAKE,TEXAS Serving the Greater Clear Lake area including
Houston's Bay Area, |
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League City is on Clear Creek and Magnolia Bayou, State Highway 3, and U.S. Highway 75, equidistant from Houston and Galveston, in northwestern Galveston County. It was formerly the site of a Karankawa Indian village. George W. Butler, the town's first resident, arrived from Louisiana in 1873 and settled at the conjunction of Clear Creek and Chigger Bayou; a brickyard was the first local business. The community was known as Butler's Ranch or Clear Creek until 1893, when J. C. League acquired the land from a man named Muldoon who, on entering the priesthood, relinquished his property rights. League laid out the townsite on the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, which built through the area in 1854, and also provided land for the town's first school, known as the Little Green School. The railroad depot and Straw Hall or Straggler's Hall, which first housed guests, were soon supplemented by general stores and a saloon. Early settlers raised cattle but turned to farming after 1890, when the Clear Creek Development was organized to sell lots to farmers. In 1854, three families arrived in the League City area having traveled in ox pulled carts. These families were the Butlers, Cowarts and the Perkins. The Cowarts built on a creek that carries their name, Cowart Bayou. The Perkins built on a creek they named Magnolia Bayou, because of the beautiful magnolia trees that lined its banks. The Butler family settled in the area where City Pharmacy is today. Around 1890's, Mr. John League started acquiring property that was available in the Muldoon two-league grant. League purchased this land and became one of the largest landowners in Galveston County. J.C. League's land holdings were quickly building a thriving community. In 1893, League had the area known as Butler Ranch changed to League City. In 1896, while G.W. Butler was postmaster, the city was officially named League City. Soon a local post office "feud" began as the residents of Clear Creek, and the new League City competed for the town's name, as is was controlled by the local post office. The building would be moved back and forth across the railroad tracks as the feud went on, but the name of League City would win out. In 1897, J.C. League donated land for League Park. In 1907, he had two flat cars full of live oak trees left on the siding near the railroad station. They were for the residents of League City to take and plant on their property. G.W. Butler and his son Milby supervised the planting of these trees, which have become the symbol of the city and are known as the Butler Oaks. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 destroyed the original bridge over Clear Creek at Garson's Landing. A few residents operated dairies; other farmers raised satsuma oranges, cotton, corn, potatoes, sugarcane, cucumbers, strawberries, and truck crops and later experimented with grapefruit, figs, and dates. In 1913 the town had a high school, a pickling plant, two broom factories, a state bank founded in 1905, and four churches, including the Friends Church under construction. By that year the weekly League City News was published, improved roads were under construction, and electric lighting was proposed along the Interurban. A lumber company opened in 1915, and in 1923 more families arrived in the area and began raising vegetables. League City became an independent school district in 1906 and later merged with the Clear Creek Consolidated Independent School District. The population rose from 800 in 1925 to 1,200 in 1928 and fell briefly to 800 in 1931, when the town had thirty-five businesses. In 1943 the businesses dropped to a low of fifteen. After 1946 the town became a center for railroad shops and a Humble Oil tank farm. It grew to a population of 16,000 and 112 businesses in 1976 and 22,934 and 265 businesses in 1988. In 1990 League City had 189 businesses and 18,996 residents. As the population expanded, the town incorporated land to the west as far as the Friendswood city limits; residents commuted to nearby cities or worked on the Humble Pipeline or at NASA facilities at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and now is it's residents enjoy easy access to the major byways giving them quick commutes to Houston, Galveston and the many surrounding communities. |
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