League City Drainage & Irrigation

About Webster

Webster is a city in the U.S. state of Texas located in Harris County, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Its population was 12,499 at the 2020 U.S. census. == History == 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, Galveston, Kemah, and Seabrook. Eventually, railroads, such as the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, were built through the area. Farmers in the area raised pears and other produce.In 1903, the Houston Chamber of Commerce invited Seito Saibara, a former Japanese 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 established the foundations of what became the rice industry of the U.S. Gulf Coast.Dairies and livestock ranches developed in the town, as well, in the early 1900s.