In the beginning...

Fulshear was established on July 16, 1824 by a land grant of Mexico to Churchill Fulshear. Churchill Fulshear was one of Stephen F. Austin’s original Old Three Hundred.

The small agricultural community was centered around the Fulshear's’ plantation which housed a cotton gin, flour mill and the 4-story brick mansion which Churchill Fulshear Jr. built in the 1850s. In 1888 Churchill Fulshear Jr. granted the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway a right-of-way through his land which motivated many families to move to the area, especially Scotch-Irish, Czech and German immigrants on their way from Galveston to Cat Spring, Austin and Fredericksburg who found the area too appealing to leave. The area was also home to a vibrant Freedman's community. In 1890 the town of Fulshear was laid out, platted and granted a post office.

Though there is evidence that there was a schoolhouse at a chapel meeting ground on the Fulshear Plantation in 1885, it was not until 1893 that the Fulshear school district was established. A Methodist church was established in 1894 with the Reverend J.H. Holt as its first resident. That church, now the First United Methodist Church still exists today in downtown Fulshear.

A Story of Boom and Bust

By 1898 a thriving population of 250 residents supported eleven stores, three saloons, a school and a hotel. A block of businesses was destroyed by a fire in 1910 but the town recovered quickly and soon downtown consisted of several general stores, a drug store, a doctor’s office, a post office, a millinery shop, three churches, an undertaker’s supply store, a depot, a grist mill, a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop, a barber shop, six saloons, four schools, a boarding house, a hotel and a local telephone system. On Saturdays, when the local hands were paid, Fulshear was so busy that residents complained that the sidewalks were too crowded to walk on. The town had 300 residents and ten stores in 1929. But the population fell to 100 in 1933, around the time that the Fulshear plantation house was torn down. The Depression and a changed lifestyle caused residents to leave Fulshear. Fulshear did her share toward the war effort during WWII. Not only did she contribute men and women for the armed forces and war industries but an airplane lookout station was also manned daily on the roof of one of the brick buildings.

The Fulshear schools; two for black students, one for Hispanics and one for whites were merged into the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District in 1948. Huggins Elementary School was built in Fulshear in 1979, being named after John Huggins, who won world fame by training the first American horse to win the English Derby.

The population of Fulshear remained below 250 until the sprawl of the Houston metropolitan area began to creep in during the 1970s. Fulshear was incorporated in 1977 and remains a marketing center for locally produced rice, cotton, soybeans, corn, poultry, sorghum, horses and cattle. Many of the cattle are Texas Longhorns, descendants of Spanish and mission herds with horns spreading 4-8 feet. Pecans are also a very important, local crop.

Modern Growth

In 1988 Fulshear had a population of 623 and twelve businesses; by 2000 that number had grown to 716. The first decade of the 21st Century has seen explosive growth thanks in large part to our excellent Master Planned Communities. The population as of the October 2020 census was 16,856. With the population growth, the City itself has grown geographically. The City Limits cover a little over 12 square miles with approximately 59 miles in the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction.

A Warm Welcome!

Fulshear residents have long been noted for their hospitality from the early days when the local passenger train stopped at noon and several of the ladies provided a basket lunch for the train crew. By the 1940’s the entire town and their guests joined in a Fourth of July barbeque and picnic to Fulshear’s Folly, which began in 1978 and provided residents the chance to play host to everyone who enjoyed participating in the fun and togetherness of the City of Fulshear. That tradition carries on today with Fulshear’s Fourth of July event and has expanded to several other holidays, as well. If you are interested in becoming a part of this vibrant city please contact Economic Development at ecodev@fulsheartexas.gov, or call (281) 346-8874.