Editing Sugar Land, Texas (section)

===Sugar Land's founding===
Sugar Land has roots in the original Mexican [[land grant]] made to Anglo-American [[Stephen F. Austin]]. One of the first settlers of the land, Samuel M. Williams, called this area "Oakland Plantation". Williams' brother, Nathaniel, purchased the land from Austin in 1838.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfs10|title=SUGAR LAND, TX|first=BETTYE J.|last=ANHAISER|date=June 15, 2010|website=tshaonline.org}}</ref> They developed the [[plantations in the American South|plantation]] by growing [[cotton]], [[maize|corn]], and [[sugarcane]].

During these early years, the plantation was the center of social life along the Brazos River. In 1853, Benjamin Terry and William J. Kyle purchased the Oakland Plantation from the Williams family. Terry is known for organizing a division of [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and for naming the town.

Upon the deaths of Terry and Kyle, Colonel E. H. Cunningham bought the {{convert|12500|acre|adj=on}} 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.