Stephen F. Austin's colonists brought sugar cane to Fort Bend County in the 1820s.
The Sugar Land area was once part of Oakland Plantation, where Nathaniel (1800-84)
and Matthew Williams (1805-52) planted sugar cane about 1840. They began processing
the cane in 1843 using a horse-powered mill and open-air cooking kettles. After the
civil war, the operation was sold to Edward H. Cunningham (1835-1912), who expanded
the sugar mill into a refinery.
Named for the Imperial Hotel in New York City