Sugar Land was a company town until the late 1950s. The Imperial Sugar Company built housing, schools, and hospitals for their workers, and continued to expand by creating subdivisions. Without Imperial Sugar, Sugar Land wouldn’t exist.

The refinery used to be open for tours, but, unfortunately for the interested pubic – as well as for the city – it was shut down in 2003.

The property was recently sold and is currently being redeveloped. (More on that here.) Alegedly the refinery and the water tower aren’t going to be torn down, but only time will tell.

You can check out the latest news about the development on this post at the Houston Architecture Info Forum.