 "Sugar Land" Texas Information
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Sugar Land, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sugar Land is a city located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade.[1] In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the city's population was 79,943.
Founded as a sugar plantation in the early mid 1800s and incorporated in 1959, Sugar Land is the largest city and economic center of Fort Bend County. The city is the third-largest in population and second-largest in economic activities of the Houston area.
Suga Land is home to the headquarters of Imperial Sugar and the company's main refinery and distribution center was once located in this city. As a nod to this heritage, the Imperial Sugar crown logo can be seen in the city seal and logo. The city also holds the headquarters for Western Airways and a major manufacturing facility for Nalco Chemical Company. In addition, Sugar Land has a large number of international energy, software, engineering, and product firms.
SugarLand has the most master-planned communities in Fort Bend County, which is home to the largest number of master-planned communities in the nation, including New Territory, Telfair, Chelsea Harbour, Riverstone and many others. It holds the title of "Fittest City in Texas" for the population 50,000–100,000 range, a title it has held for four consecutive years.
In 2006 CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Sugar Land third on its list of the 100 Best Cities to Live in the United States. [2]
In 2007, CQ Press has ranked Suga Land fifth on its list of Safest Cities in the United States (14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan American"). [3]
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History
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Native Population
The Karankawa and the Atakapa tribes settled in what is now today Sugar Land.
Sugar Land's founding
Sugar Land has a heritage tracing its roots back to the original Mexican land grant to Stephen F. Austin. One of the first settlers of the land, Samuel M. Williams, called this land "Oakland Plantation" because there were many different varieties of oaks on the land, such as Willow Oak, Post Oak, Water Oak, Southern red oak, and Live Oak. Williams' brother, Nathaniel, purchased the land in 1838. They operated the plantation by growing cotton, corn, and sugarcane. During these early years, the area that is now Sugar Land was the center of social life along the Brazos River. In 1853, Benjamin Terry and William J. Kyle purchased the Oakland Plantation from the S. M. Williams family. Terry is known for organizing Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War and for naming the town. Upon the deaths of Terry and Kyle, Colonel E. H. Cunningham bought the 12,500 acre (51 km²) plantation soon after the Civil War and developed the town around his sugar refining plant around 1879.
Company town
In 1906, the Kempner family of Galveston, under the leadership of Isaac H. Kempner and in partnership with William T. Eldridge, purchased the 5,300 acre (21 km²) Ellis Plantation, one of the few plantations in Fort Bend County to survive the Civil War. The Ellis Plantation had originally been part of the Jesse Cartwright league and in the years after the Civil War had been operated by a system of tenant farming under the management of Will Ellis. In 1908, the partnership acquired the adjoining 12,500 acre (51 km²) Cunningham Plantation with its raw sugar mill and cane-sugar refinery. The partnership changed the name to Imperial Sugar Company; Kempner associated the name Imperial, which was also the name of a small raw-sugar mill on the Ellis Plantation, with the Imperial Hotel in New York City. Around the turn of the century, most of the sugarcane crops were destroyed by a harsh winter. As part of the Kempner-Eldridge agreement, Eldridge moved to the site to serve as general manager and build the company-owned town of Sugar Land.
Trains have always been the sound of Sugar Land. These rails are on the route of the oldest railroad in Texas. It went right through the middle of town, by the sugar refinery, and west of town, through the heart of what used to be known as the Imperial State Prison Farm.
As a company town from the 1910s until 1959, SugarLand was virtually self-contained. Imperial Sugar Company provided housing for the workers, encouraged construction of schools, built a hospital for the workers well-being, and provided businesses to meet the workers needs. Many of the original homes built by the Imperial Sugar Company remain today in The Hill area and Mayfield Park of Sugar Land and have been passed down through generations of family members.
During the 1950s, Imperial Sugar wanted to expand the town by building more houses. This lead to the creation of a new subdivision of Venetian Estates. The subdivision featured water front homesites fronting Oyster Creek and other man-made lakes.
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