History of Sugar Land

Sugar Land, Texas is one of the most affluent and fastest growing cities in the state. In the last ten years it has grown one hundred fifty eight percent and between 2000 and 2007 it has had a job growth of almost forty seven percent. In Sugar Land there are almost eighty thousand people with a median family income of over one hundred ten thousand dollars, but the housing price for a median house is almost two hundred seventy three thousand dollars. This city in Texas started out in the mid twentieth century as a sugar plantation and in 1959 it was incorporated to become the economic center and largest city of Fort Bend County. In the Houston area Sugar Land is the second largest in economic activities and the third largest in population. In Sugar Land you will find the headquarters of Imperial Sugar. At one time Imperial Sugar's distribution center and main refinery was located here. You can see on the city's logo and city seal the crown logo of Imperial Sugar. In addition to Imperial Sugar you will also find the major manufacturing facility for Nalco Chemical Company and the headquarters for Western Airways plus many international software, engineering, energy and product firms. Sugar Land has also been recognized and held the title of "Fittest City in Texas" in 2007 for the population fifty thousand to one hundred thousand range and has had the title for four years straight. In 2010 it was ranked number 12 as the Safest City in the United States, which made it the safest city in Texas. Soon there will be a new stadium and the home of a minor league baseball team in Sugar Land. A person can trace Sugar Land's roots back to the original Mexican land grant that was given to Stephen F. Austin. One of the first settlers on the land called it Oakland Plantation because of the variety of oak trees there. They began to grow corn, cotton, and sugarcane on the plantation. This area was the social center along the Brazos River. Sugar Land is located about twenty five miles southwest of Houston with the city having a total area of almost thirty square miles. Most of this is land, but 0.8 square miles is water. Sugar Land only has an elevation between seventy and ninety feet with two major water ways that run through the city. The two waterways are the Brazos River and Oyster Creek. There are also many man-made and natural lakes that connect to Oyster Creek, but there is only one that connects to the Brazos River.