Get to know Sugar Land, TX

The affluent city of Sugar Land lies 20 miles southwest of Houston.  The city began as a settlement on the original Mexican land grant to Stephan F. Austin.  Samuel M. Williams called the area Oakland Plantation for the many varieties of oak trees.  Williams’ brother Nathaniel bought the land in 1838 and grew cotton, corn, and sugarcane on the plantation.  The land transferred hands again when it was bought from the Williams family by Benjamin Terry and William J. Kyle.  Following the deaths of Terry and Kyle, Colonel E. H. Cunningham purchased the plantation after the Civil War and developed a town in 1879 around his sugar refining plant.  It is one of the fastest growing and most affluent cities in the state of Texas.  In 1908, the raw sugar mill and cane sugar refinery on the Cunningham Plantation was purchased by the partnership of Isaac H. Kempner and William T. Eldridge.  They soon changed the name of their venture to Imperial Sugar Company.  Sugar Land grew out of this partnership as a company-owned town until 1959 which housed workers and provided necessary infrastructure, including schools and a hospital.  The company town began to expand and in the 1980s attracted major corporations.   Some notable attractions in Sugar Land include the Sugar Land Town Square and the annual Teenstock music festival.  Sugar Land boasts a diverse economy.  Like the Greater Houston area, there is a large energy presence, including the headquarters of CVR Energy, Inc.  The Imperial Sugar Company continues to contribute to the economy, with its headquarters still in the city.  The largest employers in the city include Fluor, Schlumberger, and Methodist Sugar Land Hospital.  Notable residents of Sugar Land have included Tom DeLay and Tara Lipinski.

Quick Facts

Population: 82,420

Median Household Income: $105,400

Median Property Value: $263,700