Dickinson is the oldest mainland settlement in Galveston County. It was named for John Dickinson, one of the Old 300 settlers in Stephen F. Austin's original colony, opened in 1821. The townsite stands on the Dickinson Bayou land grant of James F. and Emily Austin Perry, Austin's brother-in-law and sister, surveyed in April 1830 by Austin and his friend Seth Ingram. Early settlers included Alexander Farmer, who in 1831 obtained a land grant where he built a home after the Texas War for Independence ended in 1836, and Herman Benson, whose mid-1840s dog trot cabin still stands. In 1857 Gen. E. B. Nichols, a merchant, statesman, and leader in the Houston-Galveston area, built a summer home that still stands in Dickinson. The colonial-era economy was based on agriculture and cattle raising. Toward the end of the 19th century, produce was shipped by eight trains a day, and for a time the area was known as the Strawberry Capital of the World. The Coast County Fair was held here in 1895-96, with picnic and fairgrounds and an exhibit building alongside the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railway tracks. The community's first church, Methodist, was organized in 1876 and served by circuit riders, the Dickinson Post Office opened in March 1890, and the first tax-funded school opened in 1892. Dickinson remains a coastal beauty spot.