Editing Webster, Texas (section)

==History==

{{Further|History of the Galveston Bay Area}}
[[File:Hauling rice in South Texas.jpg|thumb|left|Hauling rice in South Texas (postcard, {{circa|1909}})]]
The community was founded in 1879 by James W. Webster under the name "Gardentown". It was established initially as a colony for settlers from England. It began as a stopover for travelers between [[Houston]]/[[Harrisburg, Houston|Harrisburg]], [[Galveston, Texas|Galveston]], [[Kemah, Texas|Kemah]], and [[Seabrook, Texas|Seabrook]]. Eventually, railroads, such as the [[Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway]], were built through the area. Farmers in the area raised [[pear]]s and other produce.<ref name="HOT: Webster">{{Handbook of Texas | name=Webster, Texas| id=hjw04 | author=Kleiner, Diana J. | retrieved=26 January 2010}} Texas State Historical Association.</ref>

In 1903, the Houston Chamber of Commerce invited [[Seito Saibara]], a former [[Japan]]ese member of parliament and a Christian theologian, to come to Texas to teach [[rice]] farming. Rice at that time was emerging as an important cash crop. Saibara settled in Webster and established a small farming community of Japanese Christians. Saibara and his son [[Kiyoaki Saibara|Kiyoaki]] established the foundations of what became the rice industry of the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|U.S. Gulf Coast]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cityofwebster.com/index.asp?NID=2#chpt2 | title=History of Webster, Texas | publisher=City of Webster | access-date=26 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="HOT: Seito">{{Handbook of Texas | name=Saibara, Seito | id=fsagp | retrieved=26 January 2010}} Texas State Historical Association.</ref>

Dairies and livestock ranches developed in the town, as well, in the early 1900s. [[Petroleum]] was discovered at the Webster (Friendswood) Oil Field in 1937,<ref name=oo>{{cite book |last1=Olien |first1=Diana |last2=Olien |first2=Roger |title=Oil in Texas, The Gusher Age, 1895-1945 |date=2002 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0292760566 |pages=214}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Patrick |first1=H. |editor1-last=Nettleton |editor1-first=L.L. |title=Case History of the Friendswood (Webster) Oil Field, Harris County, Texas, in Geophysical Case Histories, Volume 1=1948 |date=1949 |publisher=Society of Exploration Geophysicists |pages=74–84}}</ref> but the population remained small. The community was incorporated in 1958.<ref name="HOT: Webster"/>

In 1961, the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] announced that it was building the Manned Spacecraft Center (now known as the [[Johnson Space Center]]) nearby along the shores of [[Clear Lake (Galveston Bay)|Clear Lake]]. Growth and development quickly swept over the [[Clear Lake area]], and Webster's population blossomed.<ref name="HOT: Webster"/> Webster today has become a thriving bedroom community closely tied to the Clear Lake area and its high-tech industry.
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[[File:Texas Avenue Park -- Webster,Texas.jpg|thumb|A popular park in Webster]]