The space between Sugar and Land represents a rich history of a company town, a town built around a diverse base of residents, a prison town … a city in its own right, not just a suburb of Houston.
 
“That space holds a lot of pride, a sense of ownership and a history of hard workers dedicated to holding onto the meaningful aspects of our past,” says Realtor Cathy Stubbs, the leader of The Cathy Stubbs Team. “It’s a city where every pantry has a bag of Imperial Sugar in it, where people are used to hearing the whistles of dozens of trains that travel through the city every day, and where oldtimers are used to avoiding hitchhikers when driving on Hwy 90 through the former prison land.”
 
Here’s just a few of the things that define that space between Sugar and Land.
 
Imperial Sugar – Sugar Land became a company town after Isaac H. Kempner of Galveston and William T. Eldridge of Eagle Lake acquired the Ellis and Cunningham plantations and the Cunningham Sugar Company. Between 1918 and 1923, Imperial Sugar built an elementary school and built and staffed its own hospital and fire station to accommodate the needs of Sugar Land’s residents. “I still have some canvas Imperial Sugar sacks I bought at a Heritage Foundation sale. I just love the history behind them,” Cathy says.
 
Historic Black Cemeteries and Sugar Land 95 – The Sugar Land 95 are 95 African-American individuals unearthed during a construction project. Archaeologists found evidence that the 95 individuals belonged to the state of Texas’ convict leasing system and were buried in the unmarked gravesite. The Sugar Land 95 is just one of the historic Black Cemeteries in Fort Bend County.
 
State Prisons – The Central Unit was a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) men’s prison in Sugar Land on Highway 90A near Highway 6. You can still see many of the buildings from this unit. Most notably, the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Sugar Land converted the 1939 Central State Farm Prison Building into the 43,000-square-foot Museum of Natural Science annex.
 
According to the City of Sugar Land, the earliest written record the Heritage Foundation has on file is the 1860 Census, where Sugar Land is spelled properly with two words. When building the Dust Estate for Sugarland Industries in 1919, the document from the attorney used the one word spelling. It wasn’t until the city’s incorporation in 1959 that the two word spelling for the city was cemented.
 
This past May, the famous band, the Commodores, performed at the Sugar Land Jazz Festival on the festival grounds near the Brazos River. As the lead singer repeatedly shouted about performing in Sugarland, the crowd chanted back “Sugar Land, with a space! It’s Sugar Land!” It took a few minutes, but the Commodores leader finally got it. “Oh, it’s Sugar Land, not Sugarland!”
 
If you’re looking for a home in a city rich with history, a sense of pride that is both earned and learned, and you want to be outside of Houston but still just 12 minutes to the Galleria area, give Sugar Land a look. Let Cathy and her respected team of Realtors help you find your dream home. Just make sure your change of address cards say Sugar Land, not Sugarland.
 
Cathy Stubbs Team
281-967-6149
cathystubbs.com