After the 1915 storm almost destroyed the Texas City dairy business of John Tobias Hicks (1878-1946) and his wife Fannie (Perry) (1877-1955), they bought this home and surrounding 40 acres in the Manvel community. They established a productive milk business that shipped milk by wagon to a Houston creamery, later called the Borden Company. Like other dairy farmers during times of low milk prices, Hicks depended on outside work, leaving his milk business to be managed by his family. Today, dairies are no longer part of Manvel's economy. (1983)