Stewart Title Guaranty Company began in Texas in 1893 when Maco Stewart, a young Galveston attorney, purchased the Gulf City Abstract Company. It is a real estate information and transaction management company that provides title insurance and related information services through more than 9,500 policy-issuing offices and agencies in the United States and around the world. The company offers services for title insurance, real estate escrow and closings. Stewart Title Guaranty Company serves real estate agents and brokers, attorneys, developers, builders and mortgage lenders. It does business in more than 40 foreign countries and has offices in Latin America, Europe, the Caribbean, Canada and Australia. The company offers online transaction management, flood hazard certificates, electronic mortgage documents, property ownership mapping and land record automation services. With headquarters in Houston, Stewart Title Guaranty Company maintains an office in Fairfax, Va.