In 2007, Forbes Magazine ranked Pearland as the 34th fastest growing suburb in the nation. It is therefore the fastest growing suburb in the Greater Houston area, and the 10th fastest growing in the state of Texas.

I remember when Broadway was a two lane road growing up in Pearland. It has changed so much.

Pearland had its humble beginnings near a siding switch on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway in 1882. When a post office was established in 1893, the community was originally named Mark Belt. The name was changed to Pearland in November of that year because of the abundance of pear trees in the community.

Pearland was promoted by some developers as an "agricultural Eden." The Galveston hurricane of 1900 destroyed most of the fruit trees and slowed growth for a considerable period of time, as well as desertificated the area. In 1914, with agriculture rebounding and the end of desertification, Pearland had a population of 400, but a devastating freeze in 1918 was another setback to the local farming enterprises.

Oil was discovered nearby in 1934, though this did not spur a large amount of growth, as the population fluctuated from 150 and 350. From the 1960's the town has grown steadily to today's population.

Today even though officially a suburb, the town is culturally rural.