Voices of Pearland

Voices of Pearland Curious about Pearland’s past? Join us as we uncover, preserve, and share the stories of the African Americans who helped shape our community.

Today was a GOOD research day.I spent the day moving around Pearland and Brazoria County, looking at places, records, an...
08/14/2026

Today was a GOOD research day.

I spent the day moving around Pearland and Brazoria County, looking at places, records, and pieces of the story that are starting to connect.

I visited Old Settlers Cemetery, spent time at Zychlinski Park, looked through historical records with the Brazoria County Clerk, and had conversations that opened up even more leads around Rosharon, Arcola, land, burial sites, and families connected to this area.

One thing that really caught my attention was an 1891 tax record connected to the Zychlinski name. I’m not making any big claims yet because I still need to verify exactly what I’m looking at, but it definitely gave me another question to chase.

And that’s what this research is becoming: one answer opens the door to three more questions.

The biggest question is still the same:

Before Pearland became Pearland, who was here?

Today, I got a little closer to the answer.

And I am realizing more and more that the story of Black Pearland may not stop at the city limits. I have to follow the people, the land, the churches, the cemeteries, the schools, and the records wherever they lead.

The research continues.

Tomorrow, I’m following the land.My Voices in Pearland research continues at the Brazoria County Clerk’s Pearland office...
08/12/2026

Tomorrow, I’m following the land.

My Voices in Pearland research continues at the Brazoria County Clerk’s Pearland office as I dig deeper into how the land that became Pearland was actually assembled.

The records are pointing beyond the familiar founding story—toward multiple land transactions, different property owners, and questions surrounding the Landing Cattle Company and Witold von Zychlinski.

I’ll be tracing deeds, parcels, surveys, and names, then taking that research into the landscape at Old Settler’s Cemetery and the original townsite.

Who owned this land before Pearland—and what story does the land itself tell?

That’s what I’m going to find out.

1883 → 1893. Who was here?The deeper I go into the history of Pearland, I have more questions.Who lived here before and ...
08/09/2026

1883 → 1893. Who was here?

The deeper I go into the history of Pearland, I have more questions.

Who lived here before and after the Mark Belt siding switch was established? Were there farms here? Who owned or worked the land? What was this area called before Mark Belt? And most importantly for my research, what can the historical record tell us about African Americans who may have lived and labored in this area before Pearland was created?

We know the railroad established the Mark Belt siding in the early 1880s, and historical accounts document Zychlinski acquiring thousands of acres surrounding Mark Belt before the Pearland townsite was platted in 1894. Interestingly, the sources don’t even completely agree on whether that major land purchase occurred in 1892 or 1893—which is another reminder of why going back to the original records matters.

So I’m going to do history in reverse.

I’m starting with the land Zychlinski acquired and working backward: Who sold it? Who owned those parcels before him? Who lived there? Who farmed there?

My next stop is the census and then the land records.

As Voices of Pearland develops, I want to share not only what I discover, but also the questions the research creates along the way.

For now, Phase One comes down to one question:

1883 → 1893. Who was here?

Voices of Pearland | 1883 The Beginning Today’s field research brought me to the historic Pearland Santa Fe Depot, near ...
08/09/2026

Voices of Pearland | 1883 The Beginning

Today’s field research brought me to the historic Pearland Santa Fe Depot, near the location where the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway established a siding called “Mark Belt” in 1883—more than a decade before the Pearland townsite was platted.

A railroad siding is a short piece of track built beside the main railroad track. It lets a train move off the main track so another train can pass or so goods and people can be loaded or unloaded.

A switch is the part of the track that moves the train from the main track onto the siding.

So, in simple terms:

1883: The railroad created a small stop/siding called Mark Belt.
1893: Land around Mark Belt was purchased for development.
1894: The town of Pearland was officially laid out.
1900: The Santa Fe Railroad built the depot I photographed.

Important: Mark Belt existed as a railroad place before Pearland became a town. That means people may have been living and working in this area before the official story of Pearland begins—and that is a huge part of my researching.

The historical marker tells a familiar story of settlement, agriculture, the railroad, and the development of Pearland.

But as a historian, I’m also asking what the marker does not tell us.

Who was living and laboring throughout this area? Where are African Americans in the documented story of early Pearland? What communities, farms, churches, schools, businesses, and families existed beyond the history currently visible on our landscape?

That is where Voices of Pearland begins.

With questions. Who was here for 10 years prior to Pearland?

1st stop: Pearland Santa Fe Depot
3501 Liberty Drive
Pearland, TX.

Did you know? The city of Pearland was first named Mark Belts?
08/09/2026

Did you know? The city of Pearland was first named Mark Belts?

What Happened to Black Labor After Slavery?I learned something today that has me thinking differently about my Voices of...
08/09/2026

What Happened to Black Labor After Slavery?

I learned something today that has me thinking differently about my Voices of Pearland research.

A farm and a plantation were not necessarily the same thing.

We often connect slavery with large plantations. But enslaved people also lived and worked on smaller farms. A farmer might have enslaved one, two, five, or more people without the property ever being called a plantation.

That distinction matters.

If I only research the plantations that surrounded Pearland, how many enslaved people could I miss because the places where they lived and worked were simply called farms?

They may have been counted in census and other historical records but left out of the stories later told about this area.

That led me to my first research question:

Where were enslaved people living and working throughout the area that eventually became Pearland?

Then my reading took me beyond 1865.

Douglas Blackmon’s work on post-emancipation forced labor examines peonage, convict leasing, and other systems that forced many African Americans back into conditions that resembled slavery.

That caught my attention because Pearland developed after emancipation, during the same broader period in which these labor systems operated.

Convict leasing and prison labor were not distant from this area. These systems existed in Brazoria County and nearby Fort Bend County. That raises another question about the history of northern Brazoria County and the land that became Pearland.

What systems of Black agricultural labor existed in northern Brazoria County during the transition from slavery to the founding and development of Pearland?

I don’t know the answer yet. That’s the research.

But I now realize that studying the plantations around Pearland is only one part of the story. I also need to study farms, landowners, laborers, tenant farmers, sharecroppers, prison labor systems, and the Black families who lived and worked on this land.

Ultimately, the question I am trying to answer is much bigger:

What happened to Black labor on this land after slavery ended?

Sometimes research gives you an answer.

And sometimes it gives you a better question.

Dr. Bequita Pegram
Voices of Pearland

08/04/2026

Welcome to Voices of Pearland!!🍐

What is Voices of Pearland?

Voices of Pearland is a community history initiative dedicated to discovering, documenting, preserving, and sharing the rich history of African Americans in Pearland and the surrounding communities. Through oral histories, family photographs, historical documents, and community partnerships, we are working to ensure these stories are preserved for future generations.

Why am I doing this?

Every community has stories that deserve to be remembered. As Pearland continues to grow, many of the people who lived this history are aging, and with them, priceless memories risk being lost. My goal is to help preserve these voices, honor the generations who came before us, and build a lasting historical record that reflects the contributions, resilience, and legacy of Black Pearland.

How can you help?

History lives in our homes—not just in archives. If you have family photographs, church anniversary books, school yearbooks, funeral programs, newspaper clippings, letters, land records, family Bibles, or simply memories passed down through generations, your story matters. Together, we can preserve our community’s history for those who come after us.

If your family has lived in Pearland or the surrounding communities for generations, I’d love to hear your story.

Thank you for joining this journey as we discover, preserve, and amplify the voices that helped shape our community.

— Dr. Bequita Pegram
Founder, Voices of Pearland
[email protected]

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Mark Belt Street
Houston, TX
77581

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