The original sugar refinery, constructed by Edward Cunningham in the 1880s, was bought by Isaac Kempner and W.T. Eldridge in 1908.[/caption]

Although the city of Sugar Land did not become incorporated until 1959, its roots date back to the 1880s when Edward Cunningham constructed Texas’ first sugar refinery at Oyster Creek.

Cunningham’s refinery eventually led to the establishment of the Imperial Sugar Company after W.T. Eldridge and Isaac Kempner partnered to purchase the 12,500-acre site in 1908.

Dennis Parmer, executive director of the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation, said the acquisition of Cunningham’s plantation by Eldridge and Kempner became the building blocks for the establishment of the
city of Sugar Land.

“Cunningham was the precursor of Sugar Land because he built an actual refinery on the land,” he said. “Kempner and Eldridge took what was already existing here and started building and adding to it.”

As Kempner and Eldridge expanded the Imperial Sugar refinery to include the char house, the three-bay warehouse and a water tower, they also began laying the initial infrastructure for a suburban town.

Small neighborhoods for refinery workers and management were erected between 1915 and 1920 near the refinery between Main Street and Seventh Street, south of Brooks Street and near Mayfield Park at the intersection of Imperial Boulevard and Main Street.

Parmer said the housing and education resources, such as Lakeview Elementary School, were revolutionary for the time and acted as a catalyst for the development of Sugar Land as a company town.

“They felt like a key component for any success was the well-being of their workers,” he said. “The idea of treating your workers well and giving them education for the kids, paved streets, sewage and those type of utilities was a fairly advanced concept.”

Following the end of World War II, the company town started taking steps to segue into an incorporated city. Parmer said as cities in the surrounding area began incorporating to avoid annexation from the city of Houston, Sugar Land soon followed in 1959 due to the established infrastructure, housing and education systems the business partners had already established.

Once established as its own city, Sugar Land’s resulting growth was ignited by the expanding workforce from migrating industries as well as the development of local neighborhood communities like Sugar Creek, Parmer said.

“Eldridge and Kempner already built the springboard for the city of Sugar Land as we know it today,” he said. “The growth already had a strong foundation and it was not just being [constructed].”