Plantations of long ago - Fort Bend County

As I drove southwest from Houston and Harris county out highway 59 to Fort Bend County, I found it hard to imagine, what this suburban sprawl we call Sugar Land Texas, must have looked like when it was a plantation of Colonel E. H. Cunningham in the early 1800's. The plantation raised sugarcane and corn, covered thousands of acres and I'm sure was quite a sight to see. Driving on to Richmond Texas, which is the county seat of Fort Bend county, you do see bits and pieces of the old oak trees and pecan trees and farm land that once dominated the county. But then came the Civil War of 1861 and the good Colonel lead his Mustang Grays with Hood's 4th Texas Brigade to fight with Robert E Lee. At the battle of Gaines Hill, when they turned McClellan's right flank, General Lee said it was one of the most brilliant charges of the war. Now that's high praise from high places, I think, and interesting history.

The city of Sugar Land Texas is today the largest city in Fort Bend county and growing by leaps and bounds as is Missouri City Texas and Richmond Texas and Rosenberg Texas. In fact Fort Bend county is one of the fastest growing counties in the whole United States and not just in Texas. Fort Bend has a population of 585,375 as shown in the 2010 census, which was a 65% increase over the 2000 census. That is excellent growth and this county has had this kind of growth since the early 1980s. In fact, as I looked at the past census, the population increase for Fort Bend county has been above 90% growth rate on average from 1980 to 2000. Land prices around this county have also followed suit. As a real estate broker I can't help but wonder what Colonel Cunningham would think of the present day high land prices in Sugar Land Texas, compared to the low plantation land prices in his day and time. Fort Bend county started and was named after a simple blockhouse built in a bend on the Brazos river by colonists of Stephen F Austin's colony. Fort Bend county was founded in 1837 and covers 886 square miles, mostly level land with scattered trees. The old oak trees around the county courthouse in Richmond Texas are beautiful to see and certainly make you think of the long gone plantation days. There is plenty to see and do in Richmond Texas and the museum across the street from the old courthouse is worth a stop just to stroll the grounds and feel the sense of days gone by. It made me think of Scarlet O'Hara and the movie Gone with the Wind.

                                                       Fort Bend County Courthouse

In the southeast corner of Fort Bend county along FM 762 you will find the Brazos Bend State Park. It is a beautiful park of about 5000 acres between Needville Texas and Rosharon Texas. This area was part of the original land grant to Stephen F Austin and the present park area was included in a grant to Abner Harris and a partner named William Barrett. Archaeological materials show that prehistoric people visited this area and the Karankawa Indians roamed between the mouth of the Brazos river and Galveston bay to the east. There are beautiful hiking, biking and equestrian trails as well as camping, fishing and spots for a picnic. The bike trails alone cover about 35 miles of pristine wilderness with a lot of deer, birds and alligators to see as well as some of the most beautiful wetlands and trees you can ever hope to see. So take a day and see the park and visit the center as well as the observatory. The views are spectacular.

For more information on the Brazos Bend Park check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife website below and click on my photos page for some of the pictures posted.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/brazos_bend/

Reference Links to Fort Bend County

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.answers.com/topic/fort-bend-county-texas

http://www.fortbendcounty.com