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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Proud citizens of Pearland are gathering in Austin |
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to celebrate Pearland Day at the State Capitol on February 28, 2007; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Situated on the alluvial lowlands of Brazoria |
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County, Pearland stands at the center of a region traversed by |
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Native Americans and such famous historical figures as Cabeza de |
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Vaca, Cavelier de La Salle, and Stephen F. Austin; and |
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WHEREAS, Founded in 1882 as a siding switch on the Gulf, |
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Colorado, and Sante Fe Railroad, the site was originally called |
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Mark Belt after the man whose house served as a local post office; |
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in the mid-1890s the Southern Homestead Company constructed the |
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town's first building, a rail depot, and the community was renamed |
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Pearland because of the abundance of pear trees in the vicinity; the |
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depot was the town's only link to the outside world and the center |
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of town life; the combination freight and passenger train known as |
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the "Bobby Train" was the only way for citizens of Pearland to |
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travel back and forth to Houston; and |
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WHEREAS, The Galveston hurricane of 1900 destroyed |
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Pearland's fruit orchards, but the region rebounded and was |
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promoted only 10 years later by the Allison-Richey Suburban Garden |
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Company as an "agricultural Eden" where fruit could be raised on a |
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commercial scale; and |
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WHEREAS, From the mid-1960s to the present, Pearland has |
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grown from a population of 1,497 to 80,000, making it one of the |
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fastest growing cities on the Gulf Coast; the life of the city is |
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enriched with such annual events as the Winterfest in January and |
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the Silverlake Sprint Triathlon every May; and |
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WHEREAS, With the original railway depot still standing as a |
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reminder of its colorful past, Pearland looks forward to an even |
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more dynamic future, and it is appropriate to take this opportunity |
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to honor it; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize February 28, 2007, as Pearland Day at |
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the State Capitol and extend to the visiting delegation best wishes |
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for an informative and enjoyable stay in Austin. |