Sugar Land, Texas

Sugar Land, Texas

Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Located about 19 miles southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around the junction of Texas State Highway 6 and U.S. Route 59.

Beginning in the 19th century, the present-day Sugar Land area was home to a large sugar plantation situated in the fertile floodplain of the Brazos River. Following the consolidation of local plantations into Imperial Sugar Company in 1908, Sugar Land grew steadily as a company town and incorporated as a city in 1959. Since then, Sugar Land has grown rapidly alongside other edge cities around Houston, with large-scale development of master-planned communities contributing to population swells since the 1980s.

Sugar Land is one of the most affluent and fastest-growing cities in Texas. Its population increased more than 158% between 1990 and 2000. Between 2000 and 2007, Sugar Land also had a 46% increase in jobs.[6] As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 78,817. Following the annexation of the Greatwood and New Territory communities in December 2017, the city's population was estimated at 118,488 as of 2019.

Sugar Land is home to the headquarters of Imperial Sugar; the company's main sugar refinery and distribution center were once located in the city. The Imperial Sugar crown logo is featured in the city seal and logo.


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History of the city

Sugar Land has roots in the original Mexican land grant made to Anglo-American Stephen F. Austin. One of the first settlers of the land, Samuel M. Williams, called this area "Oakland Plantation" because of the many different varieties of oak trees on the land.[citation needed] Williams' brother, Nathaniel, purchased the land from Austin in 1838.[8] They developed the plantation by growing cotton, corn, and sugarcane. During these early years, the plantation was the center of social life along the Brazos River. In 1853, Benjamin Terry and William J. Kyle purchased the Oakland Plantation from the Williams family. Terry is known for organizing a division of 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 (5,100 ha) plantation soon after the Civil War. He had a sugar-refining plant built here, and developed the town around it in 1879, platting the land and attracting settlers during the post-Reconstruction era. As the company town expanded, so did the interest of establishing a municipal government. Voters chose to make Sugar Land a general-law city in 1959, with T. E. Harman becoming the first mayor. In the early 1960s, a new subdivision development called Covington Woods was constructed. Later that year, the Imperial Cattle Ranch sold about 1,200 acres (490 ha) to a developer to create what became Sugar Creek in 1968. As a master-planned community, Sugar Creek introduced the concept of country club living to Sugar Land. Custom houses were built to surround two golf courses, and country clubs, swimming pools, and a private home security service were part of the amenities developed. The success of Sugar Creek, buoyed by the construction of U.S. Highway 59, quickly made Sugar Land's vast farmlands attractive to real-estate developers for residential housing. In 1977, development began on First Colony, a master-planned community encompassing 10,000 acres (4,000 ha). Developed by a Gerald Hines-led consortium that became known as Sugarland Properties Inc., development on First Colony would continue over the next 30 years. The master-planned community offered homebuyers formal landscaping, neighborhoods segmented by price range, extensive green belts, a golf course and country club, lakes and boulevards, neighborhood amenities, and shopping. Around the same time as First Colony, another master-planned community development called Sugar Mill was started in the northern portion of Sugar Land, offering traditional, lakefront, and estate lots. The master-planned communities of Greatwood and New Territory, at the time situated west of the city in what was then its extraterritorial jurisdiction, also began to be developed by the end of the 1980s. In addition to the development of master-planned communities targeted at commuters from Houston, Sugar Land began attracting the attention of major corporations throughout the 1980s. Many chose to base their operations in the city. Fluor Daniel, Schlumberger, Unocal, and others began to locate offices and facilities in the city. This resulted in a favorable 40/60 ratio of residential to commercial tax base within the city. In 1981, a special city election was held for the purpose of establishing a home-rule municipal government. Voters approved the adoption of a home-rule charter, which established a mayor-council form of government, with all powers of the city vested in a council composed of a mayor and five councilmen, elected from single-member districts. A special city election was held Aug. 9, 1986, to submit the proposed changes to the electorate for consideration. By a majority of the voters, amendments to the charter were approved that provided for a change in the city's form of government from that of "mayor-council" (strong mayor) to that of a "council-manager" form of government, which provides for a professional city manager to be the chief administrative officer of the city. Approval of this amendment authorized the mayor to be a voting member of council, in addition to performing duties as presiding officer of the council. Sugar Land annexed Sugar Creek in 1986, after the latter community was nearly built-out. That same year, the city organized the largest celebration in its history, the Texas Sesquicentennial Celebration, celebrating 150 years of Texan independence from Mexican rule.

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Things to do in Sugar Land

Constellation Field, Sugar Land, Texas Constellation Field is a baseball park that opened for play in 2012 with enough seats for 7,500 fans. It is the home field for professional baseball team, Sugar Land Skeeters. They are part of an independent league, called the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. During baseballs offseason, Constellation Field hosts other sporting events, such as soccer, rugby, football, lacrosse, and cheerleading competitions. Also, concerts take place at the field, which can accommodate a total of 9,500 spectators. Other aspects of the field include a team store that sells Skeeter team apparel, a play area with a sports court, food stalls, and beer and wine on tap. Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land The Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land opened in 2009. Prior to this, the building used to be part of the Central State Prison Farm. Today, this natural history museum features many science exhibits that appeal to people of all ages. There are some temporary and permanent exhibits. The names of the permanent exhibits are, Life Science, Earth Science, Space Science, Hall of Paleontology, and Discovery Works. Another central staple of the museum is the saltwater aquarium and the digital dome theater. Besides exploring the museum, visitors can volunteer, rent a space for a private event, or participate in summer camp. Cullinan Park, Sugar Land, Texas Cullinan Park was named after Joseph S. and Lucie H. Cullinan. It encompasses Oyster Creek, White Lake, and Pumpkin Lake and covers over 750 acres. Besides the creek and lakes, this park includes large prairies and woodlands. The park attracts visitors because of the number of outdoor activities it offers. Visitors can bird watch, fish in the lakes, hike the nature trails, or set up a picnic. Also, many different kinds of plants, flowers, and wildlife live here. Prior to becoming Cullinan Park, cattle would graze the land, and fields of sugar cane and other crops grew in abundance. Benihana, Sugar Land, Texas Benihana is a restaurant that cooks Japanese cuisine using teppanyaki-style cooking. This style originated after WWII where food is cooked on a propane heated, flat iron griddle. At the restaurant, diners sit in a communal table that surrounds the teppanyaki grill. Skilled chefs cook on these grills in front of guests and make it a fun and theatrical experience. Benihana started out as a family business with its first restaurant in New York. Since then, this iconic restaurant has opened locations in several states within the U.S., in the Caribbean islands, and in South and Central America.