El Campo is one of the largest cities in Wharton County, Texas and is located in the center of the Texas Coastal Plains, an area of bountiful native grasses. It was a popular location for the Spanish and the Mexicans to graze their cattle. After Texas won its independence, immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and Sweden moved in and continued the cattle trade. El Campo is located on an area where a railroad camp was set up in 1882; the camp was known as “Prairie Switch,” and by the mid-1880s, it had turned El Campo into the largest center for shipping prairie hay in the U.S. It was designated “The Pearl of the Prairie” by local cowboys because the section house lights looked like a pearl from a distance. Cattle intended for shipping to other markets were held at Prairie Switch which soon became known as “the Camp” or “El Campo.” By the beginning of the 20th century, farmers realized that the local soil could grow more than hay and the mainstay crops became cotton, rice, and corn. Oil and gas were discovered here in the 1930s and became the main source of El Campo's economy.