The community's post office operated from 1887 until the 1930s. During the Civil War, the town was known as Buttermilk Junction after the soldiers' practice of purchasing buttermilk there on the trip between Galveston and Houston. In 1867, the town had six families and its residents raised cattle or rice. The local population rose from 100 in 1890 to 175 in 1896, when the community had a Baptist church and several fruit growers. A school with 14 students existed before 1895, when Amos Stewart gave land for a larger facility. By 1909, two teachers served an enrollment of 55 students, and in 1913, further construction began.