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Sugar Land

Sugar Land, Texas
City
City of Sugar Land
Sugar Land Town Square, First Colony in 2010
Official seal of Sugar Land, Texas
Seal
Location in Fort Bend County, Texas
Location in Fort Bend County, Texas
Coordinates: 29°35′58″N 95°36′51″W / 29.59944°N 95.61417°W / 29.59944; -95.61417Coordinates: 29°35′58″N 95°36′51″W / 29.59944°N 95.61417°W / 29.59944; -95.61417
Country United States
State Texas
County Fort Bend
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
 • City Council Mayor James A. Thompson
Himesh Gandhi
Joe Zimmerman
Steve Porter
Bridget Yeung
Amy Mitchell
Harish Jajoo
 • City Manager Allen Bogard
Area
 • Total 34.0 sq mi (88.1 km2)
 • Land 32.4 sq mi (83.9 km2)
 • Water 1.6 sq mi (4.2 km2)
Elevation 100 ft (30 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 78,817
 • Estimate (2015) 88,156
 • Density 2,723/sq mi (1,051.2/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes 77478-79, 77487, 77496, and 77498
Area code(s) Mostly 281 also 713 and 832
FIPS code 48-70808
GNIS feature ID 1348034
Website www.sugarlandtx.gov

Sugar Land is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. The city is within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Fort Bend County. It is one of the most affluent and fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent between 2000 and 2010. In the time period of 2000–2007, Sugar Land also enjoyed a 46.24% job growth. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 78,817. In 2015 the population had risen to an estimated 88,156. Founded as a sugar plantation in the early mid-20th century and incorporated in 1959, Sugar Land is the largest city and economic center of Fort Bend County.

Sugar Land is home to the headquarters of Imperial Sugar, and the company's main sugar refinery and distribution center were once located in the city. Recognizing this heritage, the Imperial Sugar crown logo can be seen in the city seal and logo.

Sugar Land's heritage traces 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 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 (5,100 ha) plantation soon after the Civil War, and developed the town around his sugar-refining plant around 1879.


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