Sugar Land, Texas
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Sugar Land is the largest city in
Fort Bend County, Texas Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...
, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of
downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10, Interstate 45, and Interstate 69. The ...
, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around the junction of
Texas State Highway 6 State Highway 6 (SH 6) runs from the Red River, the Texas–Oklahoma state line, to northwest of Galveston, where it is known as the Old Galveston Highway. In Sugar Land and Missouri City, it is known as Alvin-Sugarland Road and runs per ...
and Interstate 69/ 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 A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
of the Brazos River. Following the consolidation of local plantations into
Imperial Sugar Company Imperial Sugar is a major United States, U.S. sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with sugar refinery operations in California, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and Louisiana. The company was established in 1843 and has un ...
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 ''Edge city'' is a term that originated in the United States for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban residential or ru ...
around Houston, with large-scale development of
master-planned communities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
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. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 78,817. Following the
annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
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 A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or beets into white refined sugar. Many cane sugar mills produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it more colour (and impurities) than the w ...
and distribution center were once located in the city. The Imperial Sugar crown logo is featured in the city seal and logo.


History


Sugar Land's founding

Sugar Land has roots in the original Mexican
land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
made to Anglo-American
Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...
. One of the first settlers of the land, Samuel M. Williams, called this area "Oakland Plantation". Williams' brother, Nathaniel, purchased the land from Austin in 1838. They developed the
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
by growing
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
, corn, and
sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...
. 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 A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and for naming the town. Upon the deaths of Terry and Kyle, Colonel E. H. Cunningham bought the 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.


Company town

In 1906, the Kempner family of
Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...
, under the leadership of Isaac H. Kempner, and in partnership with Logan J. Copenhaver, purchased the Ellis Plantation, one of the few plantations in Fort Bend County to survive the Civil War. The Ellis Plantation had originally been part of the Jesse Cartwright league; Will Ellis had operated it after the Civil War by a system of
tenant farming A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...
, made up mostly of African-American families who were previously enslaved on the land. In 1908, the partnership acquired the adjoining Cunningham Plantation, with its raw-sugar mill and cane-sugar refinery. The partnership changed the name to Imperial Sugar Company; Kempner associated the name "Imperial", which was also the name of a small raw-sugar mill on the Ellis Plantation, with the Imperial Hotel in New York City. Around the turn of the 20th century, most of the sugarcane crops were destroyed by a harsh winter. As part of the Kempner-Copenhaver agreement, Copenhaver moved to the site to serve as general manager and build the company-owned town of Sugar Land. The trains running through Sugar Land are on the route of the oldest railroad in Texas. They run adjacent to the sugar refinery, west of the town, and through the center of what used to be known as the Imperial State Prison Farm. It operated with
convict lease Convict leasing was a system of forced penal labor which was practiced historically in the Southern United States, the laborers being mainly African-American men; it was ended during the 20th century. (Convict labor in general continues; f ...
labor. Between the end of the Civil War and 1912, more than 3,500 prisoners died in Texas as a result of the racist convict leasing program. Archaeologists have uncovered unmarked graves of African Americans from this period in the region around Sugar Land's prison and sugar factory. Since the early 21st century, this area has been largely redeveloped as the suburban planned community of Telfair. As a company town from the 1910s until 1959, Sugar Land was virtually self-contained. Imperial Sugar Company provided housing for the workers, encouraged construction of schools, built a hospital to treat workers, and provided businesses to meet the workers' needs. Many of the original houses built by the Imperial Sugar Company remain today in The Hill and Mayfield Park areas of Sugar Land, and have been passed down through generations of family members. During the 1950s, Imperial Sugar wanted to expand the town by building more houses. It developed a new subdivision, Venetian Estates, which featured waterfront homesites on Oyster Creek and on man-made lakes.


Development of city

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 many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
. In the early 1960s, a new subdivision development called Covington Woods was constructed. Later that year, the Imperial Cattle Ranch sold about to a developer to create what became Sugar Creek in 1968. As a master-planned community, Sugar Creek introduced the concept of
country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...
living to Sugar Land. Custom houses were built to surround two
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
s, 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 First Colony is a master-planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas. The community, with approximately 50,000 residents,Kaplan, David.Blending elegance and fast food" ''Houston Chronicle''. May 13, 2010. Retrieved on May 14, 2010. encompasses o ...
, a master-planned community encompassing . 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 belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...
s, 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 Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastr ...
, Schlumberger,
Unocal Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...
, 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 Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
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 single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...
. A special city election was held August 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 A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...
to be the chief administrative officer of the city. Approval of this
amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
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.


Suburban expansion

An amendment on May 5, 1990, changed the composition of the city council, adding a mayor and two council members, each to be elected at-large, to the five-member council. The at-large positions require election by a majority of voters, which reduces representation of any minority interests. Throughout much of the 1990s, Sugar Land grew rapidly. The majority of residents are white-collar and college-educated, working in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
's energy industry. An abundance of commercial development, with numerous low-rise office buildings, banks, and high-class restaurants, has taken place along both Interstate 69/
U.S. Highway 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA superhighway, NAFTA ...
and State Highway 6. Sugar Land added to its tax base with the opening of
First Colony Mall First Colony Mall is a regional shopping mall in Sugar Land, Texas, located about southwest of Houston. The mall — located south of the intersection of Interstate 69/ U.S. Route 59 and State Highway 6—opened on March 14, 1996 and was rec ...
in 1996. The more than one-million-square-foot (100,000 m2)
mall Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India ...
, the first in Fort Bend County, is located at the busiest intersection of the city: Interstate 69/U.S. 59 and State Highway 6. The mall was named after the master-planned community of First Colony. In November 1997, Sugar Land annexed the remaining municipal utility districts of the First Colony master-planned community, bringing the city's population to almost 60,000. This was Sugar Land's largest
annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
at the time.


After 2000

Sugar Land boasted the highest growth among Texas' largest cities, per the U.S. Census 2000, when it had a population of 63,328. In 2003, Sugar Land became a "principal" city, recognized in the metropolitan area's official title change to Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, with Sugar Land replacing
Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...
as the second-most important city in the metropolitan area after Houston. The metro area is now officially referred to as the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area. With its population increase, the city needed to attract
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
facilities. In 2002, the University of Houston System at Fort Bend moved to a new campus located off the University Boulevard and Interstate 69/U.S. 59 intersection. The city helped fund the Albert and Mamie George Building, and as a result, the multi-institution teaching center was renamed as the University of Houston Sugar Land. In 2003, the Imperial Sugar Company refinery plant and distribution center were closed, but the effect on the local economy was minimal. Sugar Land has become an affluent Houston suburb rather than the
blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...
,
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
-dependent town it was a generation ago. Many of its lower-income residents, including African American workers who at one time made up the majority working sugarcane, have been displaced and have had to seek work and housing elsewhere. The company maintains its headquarters in Sugar Land. The Texas Department of Transportation sold of prison land in the western portion of Sugar Land to Newland Communities, a developer, by bid in 2003. The developer announced plans to build a new master-planned community called Telfair in this location. In July 2004, Sugar Land annexed all of this land into the city limits to control the quality of development, extending the city limits westward. This was unusual, since Sugar Land had earlier annexed only built-out areas, not lands prior to development. In December 2005, Sugar Land annexed the recently built-out, master-planned community of Avalon and four sections of Brazos Landing subdivision, adding about 3,200 residents. The city eventually annexed the communities of River Park, Greatwood, and New Territory, with the latter two being annexed on December 12, 2017, bringing the city proper's population to 117,869. In the 2010s, development began on the Imperial master-planned community, located in undeveloped territory east of Sugar Land Regional Airport and incorporating the former refinery property of Imperial Sugar Company. This development includes
Constellation Field Constellation Field is a baseball park located in Sugar Land, Texas. It is the home of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys of the Pacific Coast League, who began play in 2012 as the Sugar Land Skeeters. The park also has the ability to host rugby uni ...
, home of the
Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston ...
, originally an independent baseball team but later a member of affiliated Minor League Baseball. Retail needs are to be served in the planned Imperial Market development. In 2017, the 6,400-seat
Smart Financial Centre The Smart Financial Centre, is a concert hall located off U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land, Texas, southwest of Houston. It is owned by the City of Sugar Land and is the only indoor live performance venue of its kind in the Greater Houston Great ...
concert hall opened its doors.


Geography


Geography

Sugar Land is located in northeast Fort Bend County, southwest of downtown Houston. It is bordered by Houston to the northeast, and by
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
,
Missouri City Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County, Texas, Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the c ...
, and Meadows Place to the east. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city of Sugar Land has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.82%, are covered by water. The elevation of most of the city is between above sea level. The elevation of
Sugar Land Regional Airport Sugar Land Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located in Sugar Land, Texas (USA), southwest of the central business district of Houston. Founded privately in the early 1950s as Hull Field, it was renamed in 1990, as Sugar Lan ...
(SGR) is . Sugar Land has two major waterways running through the city. The southwestern and southern portion of the city were developed along the Brazos River, which runs into
Brazoria County Brazoria County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton. Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan statis ...
. Oyster Creek runs from the northwest to the eastern portion of the city limits and into Missouri City. Sugar Land developers have built many artificial lakes connecting to Oyster Creek or the Brazos River, as part of new master-planned communities. Sugar Land and other surrounding areas are subsiding and the rate of subsidence is increasing. The area sunk about 1 foot between 1943 and 1964, while it sunk over 6 feet between 1988 and 2016https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f110a5148a43409993737913d10d5639 Currently, it is estimated that Sugar Land is subsiding at a rate of between 10 and 25 millimeters per year. The subsidence is exacerbated by
Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, increased suburban development, and inadequate replenishment. The subsidence has significant human cost. For example, the historic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey was worse than it would have otherwise been due to the effect, and houses and buildings in the city are sinking and having their foundations damaged. To manage the rapidly increasing subsidence, the Texas State Legislature created the Fort Bend Subsidence District in 1989. The US Geologic Survey and the US Army Corps of Engineers have performed studies and monitoring of the subsidence.


Hydrology

Sugar Land sits atop three
aquifers An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
: Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper. The Chicot and Evangeline Aquifers have been the primary source of municipal water for Sugar Land, Houston, Galveston and other surrounding areas. The Jasper Aquifer is the only one of the three that is not used to extract drinking water.https://www.twdb.texas.gov/publications/reports/numbered_reports/doc/R155/R155_mainText.pdf Due to the rapid building of suburbs in the city and surrounding region, aquifer replenishment has significantly decreased. The city government has enacted a program to manage the aquifers.


Geology

Underpinning the area's land surface are unconsolidated
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
s, clay shales, and poorly cemented
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
s, extending to depths of several miles. The region's
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
developed from stream deposits from the erosion of the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
. These
sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
s consist of a series of sands and clays deposited on decaying organic matter that, over time, were transformed into
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
and
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
. Beneath these tiers is a water-deposited layer of
halite Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, p ...
, a rock salt. The porous layers were compressed over time and forced upward. As it pushed upward, the salt dragged surrounding sediments into dome shapes, often trapping oil and gas that seeped from the surrounding porous sands. The region is
earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
-free. While the neighboring city of Houston contains 86 mapped and historically active surface faults with an aggregate length of , the clay below the surface in Sugar Land precludes the buildup of friction that produces ground shaking in earthquakes. These faults move only very gradually in what is termed "fault creep".


Climate

Sugar Land's climate is classified as being
humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
, featuring two seasons, a
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
from April to October, and a
dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
from November to March. The city is located in the Gulf coastal plains
biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
, and the vegetation is classified as a temperate
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
. The average yearly precipitation is 48 inches. Prevailing winds are from the south and southeast during most of the year, bringing heat and moisture from the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. In the summer, daily high temperatures are in the 95 °F (35 °C) range throughout much of July and August. The air tends to feel still and the abundant humidity, with dewpoints typically in the low to mid 70°Fs, creates a heat index around 100 °F each day. Summer thunderstorms are common with 30 to 50% of the days having thunder. The highest temperature recorded in the area was 109 °F in September 2000. Winters in the area are cool and mild. The average winter high/low is 62/45 °F (16/7 °C). The coldest period is usually in January, when north winds bring winter rains. Snow is almost unheard of and typically does not accumulate. One such rare
snowstorm A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessar ...
hit Houston on Christmas Eve 2004. A few inches accumulated, but had melted by the next afternoon. The earliest snowfall to occur in any winter fell on December 4, 2009.


Demographics

As of the
2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 111,026 people, 38,852 households, and 31,328 families residing in the city. At the publication of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, 78,817 people, 26,709 households, and 21,882 families were residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 2,432.6 people per square mile (939.4/km2). The 27,727 housing units averaged 855.8 per square mile (330.5/km2). In 2010, the
racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
of the city was 52.0% White, 7.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 35.3% Asian, 2.34% other race, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 10.6% of the population. Sugar Land has the highest concentration of Asian Americans in Texas. Altogether in 2010, 10.7% were Indian, 11.5%
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, 4.5%
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
, and 2.0%
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
. There is also a sizable
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i community in Sugar Land. As of 2013, about one-third of the Asian population was Indian American, according to Harish Jajoo, a former city council member of Indian origin. The Sugar Land area has Indian grocery stores, temples, several mosques and many Ismaili Jamatkhanas. Sugar Land is the national headquarters for the United States Ismaili Community. Jajoo stated that the quality of the jobs, schools, and parks attracts people of Indian origin to Sugar Land. Of the 26,709 households, 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.0% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.1% were not families. About 15.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.3% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90, and the average family size was 3.25. In the city, the age distribution was 24.6% under 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 34.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 41.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males. According to the 2014 American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the city was $115,069, and for a family was $132,534. Male full-time workers had a median income of $98,892 versus $60,053 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the city was $48,653. About 6.4% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.


Religion


Catholicism

Catholics account for over 30% of the city population with 11,998 households registered by St. Laurence, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Theresa parishes. The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
operates three churches in Sugar Land: * St. Laurence Church – Its sanctuary had its dedication ceremony in 1992. By 2006 St. Laurence had 4,600 families on its rolls and was oversubscribed. Its service area previously included
Sienna Plantation Sienna, formerly known as Sienna Plantation, is a census-designated place and master-planned community located in Missouri City, mostly in its extraterritorial jurisdiction, within Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,204 ...
. * St. Theresa Church – The
Imperial Sugar Company Imperial Sugar is a major United States, U.S. sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with sugar refinery operations in California, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and Louisiana. The company was established in 1843 and has un ...
donated the land for the church, which opened in 1924. In 1955 the
Basilian Fathers , image = Basilian_Fathers.png , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSB , nickname = Basilians , formation = , founding_location = Annonay, France , founders = , type ...
began serving as employees. In 2006 it was finalizing expansion plans, which originated from a 2005 survey. * St. Thomas Aquinas Church


Hinduism

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Houston, a Swaminarayan sect Hindu temple, is along Brand Lane in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...
, near
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
and Sugar Land.Dooley, Tara.
New Hindu temple is dedicated in Stafford
" ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''. July 26, 2004. Retrieved on May 3, 2014.
The Sri Saumyakasi, a Sugar Land Chinmaya Hindu temple, opened in December 2007. It is the only Hindu temple in the city devoted to
Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
. The Chinmaya Mission Houston started in 1982. Originally classes were held in an apartment. In a ten year period the members raised $2.5 million for the permanent temple. Shri Krishna Vrundavana has a Sugar Land postal address, but is physically in the
Alief Alief is a working-class suburb in Southwest Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States. Most of Alief is within the city limits of Houston, while a portion of the community is in Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated ...
super neighborhood in the Houston city limits. - This propert
has a Sugar Land postal address
but in fact is in the city of Houston

Compare the address to the maps of the Houston city limits.
and - Compare these maps to the Shri Krishna Vrundavana address: "10223 Synott Road" to the Masjid At-Taqwa address: "10415 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX, 77478", and to the Darul Arqam Southwest address, same as that of Masjid At-Taqwa. It occupies the 450-person, former La Festa Hall. It was established in 2011 with about 200 people in its congregation; originally the temple rented its property. In October 2015 the temple organizers bought the current site for $1.3 million. In December 2015 its congregation had numbered over 800.


Islam

The
Islamic Society of Greater Houston The Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) is a system of mosques in Greater Houston. It is headquartered at the Eastside Main Center in Upper Kirby in Houston. There are women from south Asian backgrounds who do not believe in wearing the ...
operates two mosques in the area, Masjid Maryam (New Territory Islamic Center) and Masjid At-Taqwa (Synott Islamic Center).


Economy

As in the rest of the Greater Houston area, the energy industry presence is large, specifically petroleum exploration and refining. Sugar Land holds the headquarters to ''Fortune'' 500 company CVR Energy, Inc.CVR Energy, Inc.
Retrieved May 22, 2012.
(), Western Airways, and NalcoChampion's Energy Services division. CVR Energy was listed as the city's only resident 2012 Fortune 500 company and the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'' ranked it the No. 5 public company in the Houston area. Sugar Land also has a large number of international energy, software, engineering, and product firms. Sugar Land is home to the headquarters of the Imperial Sugar Company. It was once the home of the company's main (and sole)
refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...
and distribution center. The refinery and distribution center have been closed since 2003. Schlumberger, an
oil services This is a list of oilfield service companies – notable companies that provide services to the petroleum exploration and production industry but do not typically produce petroleum. In the list, notable subsidiary companies and divisions are list ...
company, moved its Houston-area offices from 5000
Gulf Freeway Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the ...
in Houston to a campus in Sugar Land in 1995.Schlumberger to move U.S. headquarters to Houston
. ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor New ...
''. Wednesday October 26, 2005. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.
This campus is at the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 90A and Gillingham Lane. (The former Gulf Freeway headquarters was repurposed as the University of Houston Energy Research Park after 2009.) As of 2015, Schlumberger was the second-largest employer in Sugar Land. In 2015, Schlumberger announced that it was moving its U.S. corporate headquarters to the Sugar Land facility from a Houston office building. The company plans to build new buildings with a scheduled completion time of late 2017. They include a total of of class A office space and an "amenities" building with of space.
Fluor Daniel Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastr ...
also has a major office in Sugar Land at 1 Fluor Daniel Dr.
Minute Maid Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but which now extends to soft drinks of different kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid is sold under the Cappy brand in Central Europe and under the bra ...
opened its headquarters in Sugar Land Town Square in
First Colony First Colony is a master-planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas. The community, with approximately 50,000 residents,Kaplan, David.Blending elegance and fast food" ''Houston Chronicle''. May 13, 2010. Retrieved on May 14, 2010. encompasses o ...
on February 16, 2009; previously, it was headquartered in 2000 St. James Place in Houston. In 1991, BMC Software leased about at the Sugar Creek National Bank Building and about in the Fluor Daniel Building, both in Sugar Land. BMC planned to vacate both Sugar Land facilities when its current headquarters, located in Westchase, opened; BMC's headquarters were scheduled to open in 1993.


Largest employers

According to the city's 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:


Government and infrastructure


Local government

Sugar Land operates under the Council-Manager form of government. Under this system, Council appoints the
city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...
, who acts as the chief executive officer of the government. The city manager carries out policy and administers city programs. All department heads, including the city attorney, police chief and fire chief, are ultimately responsible to the city manager. Some of the strengths of the council-manager form of government as opposed to a strong-mayor form of government include - all councilmembers have equal rights, obligations and opportunities, the power is assigned to the council as a whole, and the city manager must be responsive in providing day-to-day services to citizens. Sugar Land has had four city managers since instituting the council-manager form of government in 1986: * William H. Lewis (1986–1988) * David Neeley (1988–2001) * Allen Bogard (2001–2020) *Michael Goodrum (2020–Present) The average tenure nationwide for municipal and county managers is 7.4 years. The City of Sugar Land's last two city managers have an average tenure of over 13 years. The longevity of Sugar Land's city managers indicates stability in this form of government. Sugar Land's composition of the
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
consists of a
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
, four councilmembers to be elected by
single-member districts A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...
in odd-numbered years and two councilmembers by at-large positions in even-numbered years with the mayor. The city hall was built as part of the Sugar Land Town Square development in First Colony.Hall, Christine.
Sugar Land Town Square gets a 'heart' with addition of City Hall
" ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor New ...
''. April 15, 2005. Retrieved on May 15, 2010.
Prior to the opening of the current city hall, city hall was located at 10405 Corporate Drive. That space was converted for use by the offices of the Sugar Land Fire Department. Sugar Land has had 9 mayors: * T. E. Harman (1959–1961) * Bill Little (1962–1967) * C. E. McFadden (1968–1972) * Roy Cordes Sr. (1972–1981) * Walter McMeans (1981–1986) * Lee Duggan (1987–1996) * Dean A. Hrbacek (1996–2002) *
David G. Wallace David Gordon Wallace is an American businessman, politician, and author from the state of Texas. Personal life David Wallace attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, and later received a scholarship at the University of Reading in Eng ...
(2002–2008) * James A. Thompson (2008–2016) * Joe R. Zimmerman (2016–Present)


Politics

At the start of the 21st century, Sugar Land was well-known as a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
stronghold. More recently, the city has been trending Democratic in presidential elections; after voting Republican in 2012 and 2016, Sugar Land was won by Joe Biden in 2020. Sugar Land is located in
Texas's 22nd congressional district Texas's 22nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives covers a largely suburban south-central portion of the metropolitan area. The district includes the majority of Fort Bend County, including most of the cities of ...
. It is represented in the US House of Representatives by Republican
Troy Nehls Troy Edwin Nehls (born April 7, 1968) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer who is the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district. From 2013 to 2021, he served as the sheriff for Fort Bend County, Texas ...
, a former Fort Bend county sheriff. The district had long elected former House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...
, who served from here from 1985 until his 2006 resignation. Previously in 1976, Republicans ran a write-in campaign and gained election of Republican Ron Paul, who served briefly in 1976. He ran for a full term in 1978, serving from 1979 until 1985. In the
Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...
, most of Sugar Land is represented in District 17 of the
Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...
, which is represented by Republican Joan Huffman. Some western segments of the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, including the master-planned communities of New Territory, Greatwood, River Park and Telfair, are situated in
District 18 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
, represented by Republican
Lois Kolkhorst Lois Winkelmann Kolkhorst (born November 4, 1964) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as a Republican member of the Texas State Senate. She was first elected to the state Senate from the 18th District in a special election held ...
. She succeeded
Glenn Hegar Glenn Allen Hegar Jr. (born 25 November 1970)State Sen. Glenn H ...
in a 2014 special election following the latter's election as Texas State Comptroller earlier that year. In the
Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...
, most of Sugar Land is located in District 26, which is represented by Republican Rick Miller, a retired
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
officer and current Sugar Land businessman. Some parts of the city are also represented by Democrat Ron Reynolds (the Sugar Land Business Park) in District 27 and Republican
Phil Stephenson Phillip Raymond Stephenson (born September 19, 1960) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played all or parts of four seasons in the majors, from until . Amateur career While playing for the Shockers of Wichita State Universit ...
in District 85 (the River Park, Commonwealth and Riverstone communities).


County government

Fort Bend County does not have a
hospital district Hospital is a Districts of Costa Rica, district of the San José (canton), San José canton, in the San José Province, San José province of Costa Rica. It is one of the four administrative units that form San José, Costa Rica, San José downtow ...
. OakBend Medical Center serves as the county's
charity hospital Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...
which the county contracts with.


State government

The
Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...
(TDCJ) operates the
Jester State Prison Farm The Beauford H. Jester Complex, formerly the Jester State Prison Farm, refers to a complex of Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisons for men in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas. Individually they are Jester I Unit, Carol Vance Unit (Je ...
complex ( Jester I, Vance, Jester III, and Jester IV) in an
unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
near Sugar Land. The TDCJ operated the Central Unit in Sugar Land. The Central Unit was the only state prison within the city limits of Sugar Land.Hanson, Eric.
Historic prison may be closed
" ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''. March 22, 2008. Retrieved on April 30, 2011.
The Sugar Land Distribution Center, a TDCJ men's correctional supply warehouse, was inside the Central Unit compound.Sugar Land Distribution Center
."
Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...
. Retrieved on May 22, 2010.
In 2011 the TDCJ announced that the prison was closing and would be vacant by the end of August of that year. With the prison's closing, Sugar Land became the first Texas city to have its state prison close without a replacement facility.


Post offices

The
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
operates the Sugar Land Post Office at 225 Matlage Way and the First Colony Post Office at 3130 Grants Lake Boulevard.


Culture and sports

Sugar Land has a largely white-collar, university-educated workforce employed in Houston's energy industry. In 2004, the city was named one of the top 100 places to live, according to HomeRoute, a national
real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
marketing company which identifies top American cities each year through its Relocate-America program. Cities are selected based on educational opportunities, crime rates,
employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
and housing data. The magazine started with statistics on 271 U.S. cities provided by ''OnBoard LLC'', a real estate information company. Sugar Land was awarded the title of "Fittest City in Texas" for the population range 50,000–100,000 in 2004, 2005 (in a tie with
Round Rock Round Rock is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Williamson County, Texas, Williamson County (with a small part in Travis County, Texas, Travis County), which is a part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 as of ...
) and 2006. The "Fittest City in Texas" program is a part of the Texas Roundup program, a statewide fitness initiative. Local sports are popular both at the recreational and competitive levels. Sugar Land formed its first community swim team, the Sugar Land Sharks, in 1967, and it is still competing as of 2016. Sugar Land is home to the
Smart Financial Centre The Smart Financial Centre, is a concert hall located off U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land, Texas, southwest of Houston. It is owned by the City of Sugar Land and is the only indoor live performance venue of its kind in the Greater Houston Great ...
, an indoor concert hall that is the only such venue of its kind in
Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...
, and can seat 6,400 seats for multiple events including concerts, cultural events and graduations. An outdoor arts plaza is also being constructed around the concert hall, and will be incorporated with a new mixed-use development that will include two hotels, a conference center, office and ground-level retail, and an age-restricted senior living multifamily complex. Sugar Land is the home of the
Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston ...
Minor League Baseball team, founded in 2012, who play at
Constellation Field Constellation Field is a baseball park located in Sugar Land, Texas. It is the home of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys of the Pacific Coast League, who began play in 2012 as the Sugar Land Skeeters. The park also has the ability to host rugby uni ...
in the Imperial master-planned community, located between the Sugar Land Regional Airport and the former Imperial Sugar property. Originally known as the Sugar Land Skeeters, they won the 2016 and 2018 championship in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In 2021, the Skeeters joined the
Triple-A West The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...
as the Triple-A affiliate of the
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
. After the 2021 season, the team rebranded as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. In 2014 the Sugar Land Youth Cricket Club, a children's
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
club, was established. In 2016 it played its home games at Everest Academy in
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
. File:Sugar Land TX Constellation Field.jpg, Constellation Field, Home of Space Cowboys Minor League Baseball Team File:Sugar Land TX Natural Science Museum.jpg, Houston Natural Science Museum at Sugar Land


Local attractions

Sugar Land Town Square serves as the primary entertainment district in Sugar Land and Fort Bend County. The district offers an array of restaurants, sidewalk cafes, shopping venues, a
Marriott Hotel Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 ...
and conference center, mid-rise offices and homes, a public plaza, and Sugar Land City Hall. Festivals and important events take place in the plaza. The new city hall and public plaza, a cornerstone of Sugar Land Town Square, received the "Best Community Impact" award from the ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor New ...
'' at the fifth annual Landmark Awards ceremony. Next door to the district is
First Colony Mall First Colony Mall is a regional shopping mall in Sugar Land, Texas, located about southwest of Houston. The mall — located south of the intersection of Interstate 69/ U.S. Route 59 and State Highway 6—opened on March 14, 1996 and was rec ...
, a major regional shopping mall that recently expanded from its original indoor design to include an outdoor lifestyle component, several parking garages, and new signage that blends in with the surrounding area. The mall is anchored by two Dillard's stores,
Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
,
JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...
, and Barnes & Noble, along with over 130 stores. Sugar Land also hosts the Sugar Land Ice and Sports Center (formerly Sugar Land Aerodrome), offers ice skating and hockey lessons. It is open to the public as an ice skating facility. Previously, it served as the practice facility for the Houston Aeros of the
American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
. Also Olympic medalist
Tara Lipinski Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World ...
trained at the Sugar Land Ice and Sports Center. In May 2016, two sculptures in the Town Square's public plaza were installed as part of a 10-piece collection donated by a Sugar Land resident to the city through the Sugar Land Legacy Foundation. One of the statues, which depicts two girls taking a selfie, has received criticism and acclaim from the media and general public. Future developments in the city include new mixed-use developments on the grounds of the former Imperial Sugar refinery, Imperial Market, which will incorporate the property's 1920s-era char house as a boutique hotel, as well as in the southern part of the Telfair master-planned community with the
Smart Financial Centre The Smart Financial Centre, is a concert hall located off U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land, Texas, southwest of Houston. It is owned by the City of Sugar Land and is the only indoor live performance venue of its kind in the Greater Houston Great ...
as an anchor.


Districts and communities

Sugar Land has the most master-planned communities in Fort Bend County, which is home to the largest number of master-planned communities in the nation—including
First Colony First Colony is a master-planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas. The community, with approximately 50,000 residents,Kaplan, David.Blending elegance and fast food" ''Houston Chronicle''. May 13, 2010. Retrieved on May 14, 2010. encompasses o ...
, Greatwood, New Territory, Telfair, Sugar Creek, River Park, Imperial, Riverstone and many others. Many of the communities feature
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
s,
country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...
s, and lakes. The first master-planned community to be developed in Sugar Land was Sugar Creek. There are now a total of thirteen master-planned communities located in Sugar Land's city limits and its
extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the externa ...
combined. The northern portion of Sugar Land, sometimes referred to by residents and government officials as "Old Sugar Land", comprises all the communities north of U.S. Highway 90A, but it also includes the subdivisions/areas of Venetian Estates, and Belknap/Brookside, which is just south of U.S. 90A. Most of this area was the original city limits of Sugar Land when it was incorporated in 1959. Located in this part of town is the former Imperial Sugar Company refinery and distribution center that was shut down in 2003, even though the company's headquarters are still located within the city. To the east of northern Sugar Land is the Sugar Land Business Park, the largest business and industrial area in the city. Many of the city's electronic and energy companies are located here, including the future North American headquarters of Schlumberger. The Imperial master-planned community, including Constellation Field and the future Imperial Market development, is also located in north Sugar Land. The largest economic and entertainment activities are in the areas of south and southeastern Sugar Land. Most of the population in the city limits are concentrated here. This area is all master-planned communities and it includes nearly all of
First Colony First Colony is a master-planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas. The community, with approximately 50,000 residents,Kaplan, David.Blending elegance and fast food" ''Houston Chronicle''. May 13, 2010. Retrieved on May 14, 2010. encompasses o ...
, the largest in Sugar Land encompassing . Other master-planned communities in this area are Sugar Creek, Sugar Lakes, Commonwealth, Avalon, Telfair, and Riverstone. This area is the location of First Colony Mall, Sugar Land Town Square, the new Sugar Land City Hall, and other major commercial areas. This area boasts a wide range of recreational activities including three golf courses and country clubs, including Sweetwater Country Club (the former home of the LPGA), as well as the Sugar Land Ice & Sports Center (formerly Sugar Land Aerodrome). The southwestern area of Sugar Land was recently annexed into the city limits, and is sometimes referred to as the "other side of the river". This is due to this area being separated from the rest of Sugar Land by the Brazos River, as well as being served by the
Lamar Consolidated Independent School District Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, also Lamar Consolidated ISD, Lamar CISD or LCISD, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Metropolitan Area. Lamar CISD includes almo ...
. The southwest side has two master-planned communities, Greatwood and River Park. Other communities in this area are Canyon Gate on the Brazos and Tara Colony, the latter an older large subdivision which has a Richmond address but is actually in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Sugar Land and up for future annexation. The western portion of Sugar Land was also fully incorporated into the city limits in 2017. It is home to two master-planned communities, New Territory and Telfair, the latter of which was previously prison farm land owned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. It was sold in 2003 and annexed to the city limits by Sugar Land in 2004. A new highway, State Highway 99 (more commonly known as the "Grand Parkway"), opened in 1994 as a major arterial in this area. North of this area and U.S. Highway 90A is the
Sugar Land Regional Airport Sugar Land Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located in Sugar Land, Texas (USA), southwest of the central business district of Houston. Founded privately in the early 1950s as Hull Field, it was renamed in 1990, as Sugar Lan ...
and the recently decommissioned Texas Department of Corrections Central Unit, which in 2011 became the first Texas prison to be closed without a replacement facility and is being targeted by the city for future light industrial development.


Architectural landmarks

Lakeview Auditorium, located on the campus of Lakeview Elementary School, is the oldest public building still standing in the area. Originally one of eleven buildings that composed the campus of the old Sugar Land Independent School District, the auditorium was a focal point for a vibrant and growing community. The stately auditorium still stands today and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, as of 2002. In 1912, Imperial Sugar Company built a small building at the corner of Wood Street and Lakeview Drive (then known as Third Street) to serve as a school. The original campus consisted of 11 buildings arranged in a semicircle with the large, airy auditorium in the center. The buildings were connected by a covered walkway supported by large, white columns. There was a circular driveway for buses and automobiles. All the buildings were finished in white
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
on the outside and had large windows that allowed fresh air to circulate and cool the buildings. The auditorium was a hub of community activity.


Education


Higher education

A branch campus of
Wharton County Junior College Wharton County Junior College (WCJC) is a public community college with its main campus in Wharton, Texas. The college also has campuses in Richmond, Sugar Land, and Bay City. WCJC is accredited by the Southern Association of Colle ...
and a branch campus of
University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...
are both located in Sugar Land. Sugar Land is under state law in the service area of Wharton County Junior College, as its
extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the externa ...
. Wharton County College is a comprehensive
community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
offering a wide range of postsecondary educational programs and services including associate degrees, certificates, and continuing-education courses. The college prepares students interested in transferring to baccalaureate-granting institutions.


Primary and secondary education


Public schools

All public school systems in Texas are administered by the
Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.
(TEA). The Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD) is the school district that serves almost all of the city of Sugar Land; it formed in 1959 by the consolidation of Missouri City Independent School District and the Sugar Land Independent School District.History
" Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on July 20, 2017.
The southwest portion of Sugar Land and some very small areas within its
extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the externa ...
(ETJ) are in the
Lamar Consolidated Independent School District Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, also Lamar Consolidated ISD, Lamar CISD or LCISD, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Metropolitan Area. Lamar CISD includes almo ...
(LCISD). High schools serving Sugar Land residents in Fort Bend ISD include
Clements High School William P. Clements High School, more commonly known as Clements High School, is a public high school in First Colony and in Sugar Land within the U.S. state of Texas that is named after former Texas governor Bill Clements, and is a part of the ...
,
Dulles High School John Foster Dulles High School, more commonly known as Dulles High School, is a high school in Sugar Land, Texas. It was the first site purchase and new build, in the 1950s, of the newly formed Fort Bend Independent School District, which held i ...
and
Kempner High School I.H. Kempner High School, better known simply as Kempner High School, is a public high school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. It was named after Isaac Herbert Kempner (1873–1967), the founder of ...
, as well as Austin High School and Travis High School north of the city, which both serve students in New Territory, while Lamar Consolidated ISD's
Lamar Consolidated High School Lamar Consolidated High School is a grades 9–12 school located in Rosenberg, Texas, United States. The school, which serves the City of Richmond, parts of Rosenberg, and unincorporated areas of Fort Bend County, is a part of the Lamar Consolid ...
and
George Ranch High School George Ranch High School is a secondary school located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, south of Richmond. The school is part of the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. The school was established in fall 2010 ...
, respectively, serve the River Park and Greatwood master-planned communities in Sugar Land. Dulles, Clements, and Austin have been recognized by ''
Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
'' magazine in its list of the top high schools in Texas. In addition, Dulles, Clements, and Austin high schools were also ranked among the top 1000 schools in the United States by ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
s 2009 report. Prior to 1959 Sugar Land High School, which merged into Dulles that year, served the city. At the time FBISD formed, white students attended an elementary school in Sugar Land, a junior high school in Sugar Land, and a high school site in Missouri City. The elementary and junior high campus now houses Lakeview Elementary School and the high school site now houses Missouri City Middle School. Dulles High School became the zoned high school for white students in FBISD. Black students in Sugar Land for grades 1–12 were served by M.R. Wood School, one of FBISD's three schools for black children. Following racial desegregation in 1965, Dulles became the only zoned high school for students of all races in FBISD until Willowridge High School opened in 1979. In addition, the Harmony Public Schools operates three charter schools in the city, the grades K–5 Harmony Science Academy, 6–8 Harmony School of Excellence, and grades 9–12 Harmony School of Innovation.


Private schools

Many
private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
s in Sugar Land and the surrounding area are of all types: nonreligious, nonsectarian, Catholic, and Protestant. The
Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.
has no authority over private-school operations; private schools may or may not be accredited and achievement tests are not required for private school graduating seniors. The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
operates two Catholic
K–8 school K–8 schools, elementary-middle schools, or K–8 centers are schools in the United States that enroll students from kindergarten/ pre-K (age 5–6) to 8th grade (up to age 14), combining the typical elementary school (K–5/6) and junior hig ...
s in Sugar Land: St. Theresa Catholic School and St. Laurence School, both named for two of the city's Catholic parishes. St. Laurence, established in 1992, received additions in 1996 and 2002. St. Theresa was established in 2008. The city government approved the permit for the St. Theresa school building in 2007, and it was dedicated on August 13, 2009. Some high school students attend Pope John XXIII High School in
Greater Katy Greater Katy Area is the term often used to refer to a suburban region on the west side of the Greater Houston metropolitan area roughly corresponding to the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District. Many people and businesses in this ar ...
. The Fort Bend Christian Academy, formerly known as Fort Bend Baptist Academy, and Logos Preparatory Academy are also located in Sugar Land. The Darul Arqam Schools Southwest Campus is located in Alief, Houston, with a Sugar Land postal address. Quote "An AdvancEd accredited Islamic School in Sugar Land and a member of the IEIT School System." and "10415 Synott Rd. Sugar Land, TX 77498" However the school is actually in the Houston city limits. See the City of Houston and Alief super neighborhood maps. From th
City of Houston
"The U.S. Postal Service establishes ZIP codes and mailing addresses in order to maximize the efficiency of their system, not to recognize jurisdictional boundaries."
The Village School in the
Energy Corridor The Energy Corridor is a business district in Houston, Texas, located on the west side of the metropolitan area between Beltway 8 and the Grand Parkway. The district straddles a stretch of Interstate 10 (the Katy Freeway) from Kirkwood Road west ...
area; the British International School of Houston in
Greater Katy Greater Katy Area is the term often used to refer to a suburban region on the west side of the Greater Houston metropolitan area roughly corresponding to the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District. Many people and businesses in this ar ...
; and
Awty International School Founded in 1956,The Awty International School is a private school located in Spring Branch, western Houston, Texas, United States. Awty allows its students to receive the International Baccalaureate or the French Baccalauréat, and is the only sc ...
in Spring Branch, which includes the Houston area's French international school, have bus services to Sugar Land.


Public libraries

Residents of Sugar Land are served by the
Fort Bend County Libraries Fort Bend County Libraries is a public library system serving the county of Fort Bend, Texas. The main library, the George Memorial Library, is located in Richmond, Texas. History Prior to the founding of the Fort Bend County Library there exis ...
system, which has 11 libraries. Three branches are within the city: Sugar Land Branch, First Colony Branch, and University Branch on the University of Houston Sugar Land branch campus. File:SugarLandLibrarySugarlandTX.JPG, Sugar Land Library Branch File:Sugar Land TX First Colony Library.jpg, First Colony Library Branch File:Fort Bend County Libraries - University Branch.JPG, University Library Branch


Media


Movie references

A portion of the 1974 movie, ''
The Sugarland Express ''The Sugarland Express'' is a 1974 American crime drama film directed by Steven Spielberg in his directorial debut. The film follows a woman (Goldie Hawn) and her husband (William Atherton) as they take a police officer ( Michael Sacks) hostage ...
'', takes place in Sugar Land. Many of the movie's earliest scenes were filmed at the nearby Beauford H. Jester prison pre-release center. Other parts of the set were filmed in and around Sugar Land. The movie's title parses the name of the city as one word rather than two. It was among Steven Spielberg's first films before he became famous. The film was the first theatrical feature film directed by Spielberg. In 2010, ''The Legend of Action Man'' was filmed in Sugar Land. The film was produced by Dingoman Productions, a sketch comedy group formed by Sugar Land residents Andy Young, Derek Papa & James McEnelly that got their start attending Austin High School together. The story takes place in the Sugar Land area and makes use of many of the landmarks there. Action Man is famous for being one of the least expensive films ever made, made on a budget of $200. Director Andy Young ha
written about the experience
for ''Moviemaker'' magazine.


Music references

Folk musician Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
Lead Belly's song " Midnight Special" discusses his arrest in Houston and his stay at the Sugar Land Prison (now the Beauford H. Jester pre-release Center) in 1925. "If you're ever down in Houston, Boy, you better walk right. And you better not squabble. And you better not fight. Bason and Brock will arrest you. Payton and Boone will take you down. You can bet your bottom dollar, That you're Sugar Land bound." Country music band Sugarland gets its name from the city. They reference it in their song "Sugarland". Bruce Springsteen recorded but did not release a song called "Sugar Land", about the economic crisis facing American agriculture in the 1980s.


Newspapers and magazines

The primary newspaper serving Sugar Land residents is the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'', which is the only major newspaper in the Greater Houston region. On Thursdays, the ''Houston Chronicle'' offers a localized segment covering the Sugar Land area under its "Fort Bend" section. An alternative newspaper, the ''
Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
'', is also offered in this area. Additionally, Sugar Land residents receive local area news coverage via ''Covering Fort Bend'', which covers local news and political happenings in the Sugar Land area. Residents also are served by three free weekly newspapers, the ''Fort Bend Independent'', the ''Fort Bend Star'', and the ''Sugar Land Sun''. The '' Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster'', a daily newspaper covering primarily the Richmond-Rosenberg area west of Sugar Land, also covers news stories in Sugar Land.


Television

Over-the-air television in Sugar Land is broadcast in the Houston television market, which is the seventh-largest market in the United States according to Nielsen Media Research. The city is also served by a citywide
public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
on
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
channel 16, which covers city council meetings, planning and zoning meetings, community events, FBISD board meetings, and
Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...
Commissioners' Court meetings. The vast majority of cable subscribers in the Sugar Land area are served by Comcast-owned
Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the c ...
, which took over the Houston area's dominant cable franchise from
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
in 2006. Other cable options in Sugar Land include
AT&T U-verse U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.Phonoscope, TVMAX, and Ygnition (the latter two of which cover cable subscribers in multifamily housing developments). Sugar Land is the setting in the new Lifetime series, ''
The Client List ''The Client List'' is an American television film that premiered on the Lifetime Network on July 19, 2010. It starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and was directed by Eric Laneuville. The film is a fictionalized dramatization of a 2004 prostitution scan ...
'' starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. Hewitt's character lives in Beaumont, but commutes to Sugar Land to work at a scandalous massage parlor.


Transportation

Sugar Land currently does not have a mass transit system. However, this could change as it has been a possible candidate for expansion of Houston's
METRORail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...
system by means of a planned
commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
along U.S. Highway 90A. The city is not a participant in the Houston area's
METRO Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
transit authority; Sugar Land's merchants do not collect the sales tax that partially funds that agency.
Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...
Public Transit provides commuter service from Sugar Land to Houston.


Major thoroughfares

Interstate 69/
U.S. Highway 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA superhighway, NAFTA ...
, the major freeway running diagonally through the city, has undergone a major widening project in recent years to accommodate the region's daily commuters. The finished portion of the freeway from east of State Highway 6 to just west of State Highway 99 currently has eight main lanes, with two diamond lanes and six continuous frontage road lanes. The freeway is currently undergoing a major expansion west of the city to accommodate growth in the nearby Richmond/Rosenberg area and western Fort Bend County, as well as upgrading it to federal highway standards to reflect its newfound status as an
interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
. U.S. Highway 90 Alternate is another major highway running through Sugar Land from west to east and traverses a historic area of the city, known as "Old Sugar Land". Originally the main highway in Sugar Land prior to the construction of what is now Interstate 69, U.S. Highway 90A is currently widened to an eight-lane highway with a median between State Highway 6 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59. State Highway 6 is a major highway running from north to southeast Sugar Land and traverses through the master-planned community of First Colony. There is a freeway section that opened in 2008 from just west of Brooks Street/First Colony Blvd all the way to 3/4 miles north of U.S. Highway 90A. A segment of State Highway 99/
Grand Parkway State Highway 99 (SH 99), also known as the Grand Parkway, is a ring road in the U.S. state of Texas. Its first section opened on August 31, 1994. When the route is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the U.S., the world's seventh-lon ...
currently traverses the New Territory and River Park master-planned communities. The original highway opened in 1994, with toll lanes added in 2014. Construction will start soon south of its current terminus at Interstate 69/US 59, which is expected to extend the highway east to Alvin in Brazoria County. Texas F.M. 1876, widely known as Copenhaver Road, is a north-south state highway in north Sugar Land. It traverses through many established areas and acts as the western border of the Sugar Land Business Park.


Airport

Sugar Land Regional Airport Sugar Land Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located in Sugar Land, Texas (USA), southwest of the central business district of Houston. Founded privately in the early 1950s as Hull Field, it was renamed in 1990, as Sugar Lan ...
(formerly Hull Field, later Sugar Land Municipal Airport) was purchased from a private interest in 1990 by the city of Sugar Land. It is the fourth largest airport within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. The airport handles approximately 250 aircraft operations per day. The airport has an on-field United States Customs office, making this airport attractive to energy companies based in the Houston metropolitan area as this allows flights directly to and from countries wherein overseas operations are located, allowing fliers to avoid the delays inherent in high traffic airports such as George Bush Intercontinental. The airport today serves the area's
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
(GA) aircraft serving corporate, governmental, and private clientele. A new terminal and a GA complex opened in 2006. Sugar Land Regional briefly handled commercial passenger service during the mid-1990s via a now-defunct Texas carrier known as
Conquest Airlines Conquest Airlines was an American regional airline initially headquartered in Jefferson County, Texas, and later headquartered in Austin, Texas. Conquest operated primarily on routes within Texas from its hub in Austin (at the now closed Robert ...
. For scheduled commercial service, Sugar Landers rely on Houston's two commercial airports,
George Bush Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 5 ...
(IAH), northeast, and
William P. Hobby Airport William P. Hobby Airport (colloquially referred to as Hobby Airport, Houston Hobby, or simply Hobby) is an international airport in Houston, Texas, located from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport, and was its primar ...
(HOU), east. The city of Houston maintains a park that occupies of land directly north of the Sugar Land Regional Airport, and developers have built master-planned communities (Telfair, and the future development of TX DOT Tract 3 immediately east of the airport) around the airport, both factors that block airport expansion.
China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly (in ...
operated private bus shuttle services from Wel-Farm Super Market/Metro Bank on State Highway 6 in Sugar Land to George Bush Intercontinental Airport to feed the flight from Bush Intercontinental to
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. The service ended when China Airlines pulled out of Houston on January 29, 2008.Hensel, Bill, Jr.
2 foreign airlines curtailing Houston passenger service / High fuel prices hit carriers from Mexico, Taiwan
. ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
''. Saturday January 12, 2008. Business 1. Retrieved on June 12, 2009.


Notable people

*
José Altuve José Carlos Altuve (; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Astros signed Altuve as an amateur free agent in 2007, and he made his major league debut ...
, second baseman for the Houston Astros *
Katie Armiger Kaitlyn Michelle Armiger (born June 23, 1991) is a country artist from Sugar Land, Texas, U.S. She was first inspired to pursue country music after winning a Houston, Texas, citywide competition for young country singers. As of 2014, Armiger has ...
, country singer *
Kevin Bass Kevin Charles Bass (born May 12, 1959) is a former American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers (1982), Houston Astros (1982–1989, 1993–1994), San Francisco Giants (1990–1992) ...
, former outfielder for the
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
and the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
*
Kerem Bürsin Kerem Bürsin (born 4 June 1987) is a Turkish actor, known for his role in the TV shows ''Güneşi Beklerken'' (2013−2014), '' Şeref Meselesi'' (2014−2015) and ''Sen Çal Kapımı'' (2020–2021). Life and career Bürsin has lived in numer ...
, a Turkish actor, living his teenage years there with his family, then moving to Boston and LA * Matt Carpenter, third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals *
Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Fresno State, where he twice received first-team All- MWC honors, and w ...
, NFL quarterback *
Carlos Correa Carlos Javier Correa Oppenheimer Jr. (born September 22, 1994) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, who selected him first overall in th ...
, shortstop for the Houston Astros *
Tom DeLay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...
, former United States Representative and House Majority Leader *
Ed Fiori Edward Ray Fiori (born April 21, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Fiori was born in Lynwood, California. As a youth, Fiori would sneak through a barbed wire fence to a nine-hole cours ...
, Professional Golfer *
Sean Patrick Flanery Sean Patrick Flanery (born October 11, 1965) is an American actor, author, and martial artist. He is known for playing Connor MacManus in ''The Boondock Saints'' (1999) and its sequel ''The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'' (2009), Greg Still ...
, Actor *
Derrick Frazier Derrick Lothair Frazier (born April 29, 1970) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft and played for the team from 1993 to ...
, NFL
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
*
Eddie Griffin Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom '' Malcolm & Eddie'', the title character in the 2002 comedy film '' Undercover Brother'', and Tiberius Jef ...
, deceased NBA player; resided in Sugar Land during his lifetime and early career with the Houston Rockets *
Stuart Holden Stuart Alistair Holden (born August 1, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder, and is currently a lead TV game analyst for Fox Sports. Holden is part of the ownership group for Spanish La Liga soccer ...
, soccer player *
Robert Horry Robert Keith Horry (; born August 25, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning seven championships, the most of any pla ...
, NBA player *
Jerry Hughes Jerry Ray Hughes Jr. (born August 13, 1988) is an American football defensive end for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at TCU, where he was twice recognized as a consensus All-American befor ...
, defensive end for the Buffalo Bills * George Iloka, NFL player *
Brittney Karbowski Brittney Marie Karbowski (born ; June 26, 1986) is an American voice actress who has voiced in a number of English-language versions of Japanese anime series for Funimation, Sentai Filmworks and ADV Films. Early life Karbowski was born on June ...
, voice actor *
Tara Lipinski Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in women's singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World ...
, Olympic gold medalist in figure skating * Diana López,
Mark López Mark López Mendieta is an American taekwondo practitioner. Mark represented the United States in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He advanced to the men's -68 kg Gold Medal Match where he lost to Korea's Tae ...
, and Steven López, Taekwondo athletes * Casey Luong, known as Keshi, singer, grew up in Sugar Land * Simone Manuel, Olympic gold medalist in swimmingRogers, Katie (August 12, 2016)
"A Closer Look at Simone Manuel, Olympic Medalist, History Maker"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
* Maddie Marlow, member of country duo
Maddie & Tae Maddie & Tae are an American female country music duo composed of Maddie Font (née Marlow) and Tae Kerr (née Dye), both of whom are singers, songwriters, and guitarists. The duo was signed to the revived Dot Records in 2014. Their debut album, ...
*
Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, two- ...
, NBA player * Hakeem Olajuwon, NBA player *
Pete Olson Peter Graham Olson (born December 9, 1962) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2021. His district included much of southern Houston, as well as most of the city's southwestern suburbs such as Katy, ...
, United States Representative *
Ashley Spillers Ashley Rae Spillers is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Elizabeth in the 2013 comedy film '' Last Vegas'' (2013), Amy in the 2014 neo-noir thriller film '' Two Step'' (2014) and Olivia in the Netflix comedy ...
, actress, grew up in Sugar Land *
Allison Tolman Allison Cara Tolman is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Molly Solverson in the first season of the FX television series '' Fargo'', earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Early life and education Tolman has two older ...
, Emmy-nominated actress *
Woody Williams Woody may refer to: Biology * Pertaining to wood, a plant tissue and material * Woody plant, a plant with a rigid stem containing wood * Pertaining to woodland, land covered with trees * Woody, slang for a penile erection People and fictional c ...
,
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...
,
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
, and
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
pitcher, resides in Sugar Land


Notes


References


Further reading

* *


External links


City website
* {{authority control Cities in Texas Company towns in Texas Greater Houston Planned cities in the United States Populated coastal places in Texas Populated places established in 1908 Cities in Fort Bend County, Texas 1908 establishments in Texas