About Friendswood Texas
Friendswood is an incorporated residential community on Farm Road 518 twenty-seven miles northwest of Galveston and twenty miles south of Houston in northwestern Galveston and southern Harris counties. The surrounding area was originally wooded. The community was founded after a colony of English Quakers from Kansas moved to Texas and settled in Estacado, Crosby County, in 1880. They found the plains intolerable, however, and sent Francis Jacob Brown, a buffalo hunter and Indian fighter of Quaker heritage, out to locate a colony in South Texas. Brown located a tract of more than 1,500 acres and negotiated with J. C. League for the property in 1895. After a brief time near Alvin, where they disapproved of local customs (which included dancing), a group of three of the original families, including T. H. and Alistus Lewis, acquired land drained by four creeks—Chigger, Coward's, Mary's, and Clear—and named the new settlement in honor of the Friends. The settlers built traditional gabled homes, one of which was used as a monthly meeting place and Sunday school. A post office was established at the community in 1899. Brown set up a sawmill, and pine felled by the Galveston hurricane of 1900 was used to build Friendswood Academy, which graduated its first class in 1907 and served as the local church. Some residents worked in dairying or raised poultry, but the principal agricultural staples were Satsuma oranges, strawberries, figs, and rice, and the Quakers operated several processing plants until costs grew prohibitive. Oil was discovered in the area during the 1930s, and the population subsequently increased; in 1933 Friendswood reported 100 residents and seven businesses. In the 1940s it had a population of seventy-five and two businesses. A new church was constructed at the community by 1948.
Friendswood remained predominantly Quaker until 1958, when a local Baptist church was organized. The community incorporated in 1960. With the location of the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center ( LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER) ten miles away in 1962, many community residents began to commute there or to Houston, and Friendswood became a bedroom suburb. On April 8, 1963, the community became the only dry town in the county; at the time, smoking and drinking were already forbidden for local public school teachers. From a population of 1,675 with twenty-six businesses in 1968, Friendswood grew to 13,585 residents and 158 businesses by 1980. It then declined to 10,719 residents by 1982. The number of businesses grew to 315 by 1988. In 1990 Friendswood had 22,814 residents. Today Friendswood encompasses 21.2 square miles and has an estimated population of 38,140 residents. For more information about Friendswood Click Here.
Friendswood Independent School District - One of the biggest draws for people looking to purchase a home in The Forest is the school system. The neighborhood is located in the Friendswood ISD school system, where all of the schools in the district received the highest "Exemplary" rating from the Texas Education Agency. For more information about Friendswood ISD Click Here.
Parks & Recreation - Friendswood's reputation for traditional values, and excellent housing attract new families into the community each year. Friendswood takes pride in its premier lifestyle that offers its citizens the best in beautiful parks, abundant trees, and recreational and sports facilities in a manageable hometown atmosphere. The city is adorned with a unique blend of beautiful parks, natural trails and lush landscaping, along with a championship golf course.
The Friendswood Community Services Department/Parks & Recreation provides a quality programs and facilities that the entire family can enjoy and utilize: Library Services, Park Operations, Community Activities and Facilities. For more information about what Friendswood Parks & Recreation has to offer Click Here.
For the avid golfer Friendswood offers a championship golf course, Timber Creek Golf Club, and there are over 140 golf courses in the Houston Metro area.
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