In the years after his death, the estate of Abel Head “Shanghai” Pierce sold 15,000 acres to the Moore-Cortes Canal Company for rice farming. The town of Markham was established in 1903 when Walter C. Moore (1857-1943) and Henry W. Cortes (1856-1908) pushed for community development. The Markham Townsite Company bought 344.6 acres of land from the Moore-Cortes Canal Company. Moore petitioned Southern Pacific Railroad official Charles Henry Markham (1861-1930) to extend the rail line from Van Vleck to Palacios, naming the town after him. Business in the new townsite grew rapidly. In 1903, the Markham State Bank was organized with Frank J. Hardey as the first president, and Richard “Dick” Robertson served as first postmaster for the new Markham post office. Within a year, residents founded First Baptist Church, Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church and Markham Methodist Church. By 1914, the population reached 500. Within the first few decades, the town had ten saloons, five general stores, two drug stores, two boarding houses, two blacksmith shops, one café, and one pool hall. Markham established a school in 1904; J.E. Murray was one of the earliest teachers. The Markham Independent School District formed in 1904 and consolidated with other area school districts to form Tidehaven Independent School District in 1949. With 25,000 acres of cultivation, the rice industry thrived in the Markham area. In 1906, Hiroto Katayama and a small group of Japanese laborers bought land near Markham to study growing techniques. The specific irrigation needs of rice production led J.M. Moore to found the Markham Irrigation Company in 1912. Markham continues to be a local center for agriculture. (2023)