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Fort Bend County, Texas

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File:(Fort Bend County Court House, Richmond, Texas) (12819388513).jpg
Fort Bend County Courthouse in 1948

Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded on December 29, 1837, and organized the next year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. The county seat is Richmond. The largest city located entirely within the county borders is Sugar Land. The largest city by population in the county is Houston, but most of Houston's population is located in neighboring Harris County.

Fort Bend County is included in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 822,779,<ref name="2020 Census (City)">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> making it the state's eighth-most populous county, and was estimated to be 958,434 in 2024.<ref name="QF"/> In 2017, Forbes ranked it the fifth-fastest growing county in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HistoryEdit

Before European settlement, the area was inhabited by Karankawa Indians. Spanish colonists generally did not reach the area during their colonization, settling more in South Texas.

File:The Sugar Land Refinery in Sugar Land, TX.jpg
The former Sugar Land Refinery in Sugar Land

After Mexico achieved independence from Spain, Anglo-Americans started entering from the east. In 1822, a group of Stephen F. Austin's colonists, headed by William Travis, built a fort at the present site of Richmond. The fort was called Fort Bend because it was built in the bend of the Brazos River.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The city of Richmond was incorporated under the Republic of Texas, along with 19 other towns, in 1837. Fort Bend County was created from parts of Austin, Harris, and Brazoria Counties in 1838.

Fort Bend developed a plantation economy based on cotton as the commodity crop. Planters had numerous African-American slaves as laborers. By the 1850s, Fort Bend was one of six majority-black counties in Texas.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1860, the slave population totaled 4,127, more than twice that of the 2,016 whites.<ref>Virginia Laird Ott, "FORT BEND COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online ({{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}), accessed February 22, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association</ref> Few free Blacks lived there, as Texas refused them entry.

While the area began to attract White immigrants in the late 19th century, it remained majority-Black during and after Reconstruction. Whites endeavored to control freedmen and their descendants through violence and intimidation. Freedmen and their sympathizers supported the Republican Party because of emancipation, electing their candidates to office. The state legislature was still predominately White. By the 1880s, most White residents belonged to the Democratic Party. Factional tensions were fierce, as political elements split largely along racial lines. The Jaybirds, representing the majority of the Whites, struggled to regain control from the Woodpeckers, who were made up of some Whites who were consistently elected to office by the majority of African Americans, as several had served as Republican officials during Reconstruction.

Fort Bend County was the site of the Jaybird–Woodpecker War in 1888–89. After a few murders were committed, the political feud culminated in a gun battle at the courthouse on August 16, 1889, when several more people were killed and the Woodpeckers were routed from the county seat.<ref name="jay">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross sent in militia forces and declared martial law. With his support, the Jaybirds ordered a list of certain Blacks and Woodpecker officials out of the county, overthrowing the local government. The Jaybirds took over county offices and established a "White-only pre-primary", disenfranchising African Americans from the only competitive contests in the county.<ref name="jay"/> This device lasted until 1950, when Willie Melton and Arizona Fleming won a lawsuit against the practice in United States District Court, though it was overturned on appeal. In 1953, they ultimately won their suit when the Supreme Court of the United States declared the Jaybird primary unconstitutional in Terry v. Adams,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the last of the White primary cases.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

20th century to presentEdit

In the 1960s, the first of several master-planned communities that came to define the county were developed, marking the beginning of its transformation from a largely rural county dominated by railroad and oil and gas interests to a major suburban county dominated by service and manufacturing industries. Among the earliest such developments were Sugar Land's Sugar Creek and Missouri City's Quail Valley, whose golf course hosted the Houston Open during the 1973 and 1974 seasons of the PGA Tour.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Another was First Colony in Sugar Land, a 9,700-acre development commenced in the 1970s by Houston developer Gerald D. Hines that eventually became the southwest Greater Houston area's main retail hub, anchored by First Colony Mall and Sugar Land Town Square.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Since the 1980s, new communities have continued to develop, with Greatwood, New Territory, and Sienna (originally Sienna Plantation) among the more recent notable developments.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition to continued development in the eastern part of the county around Sugar Land and Missouri City, the Greater Katy area began to experience rapid growth and expansion into Fort Bend County in the 1990s, led by the development of Cinco Ranch.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By 2010, the county's population exceeded 500,000, and it had become the second-largest county in the greater Houston area (behind Harris County).

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused significant flooding in Fort Bend County, leading to the evacuation of 200,000 residents and over 10,000 rescues. The unprecedented flooding, the result of record rainfall and overflow from the Brazos River and Barker Reservoir, resulted in damage to or destruction of over 6,800 homes in the county.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

GeographyEdit

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert (2.65%) are covered by water.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is the 181st-largest of the 236 counties in Texas by total area.

Adjacent countiesEdit

CommunitiesEdit

Cities (multiple counties)Edit

CitiesEdit

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TownEdit

VillagesEdit

Census-designated placesEdit

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Former census-designated placesEdit

Unincorporated communitiesEdit

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Ghost townsEdit

DemographicsEdit

From 1930 to 1950, the county showed a decline in the rate of expansion and even a decrease in population. This was a period when many African Americans migrated in the second wave of the Great Migration from Texas and other parts of the South to the West Coast, where a buildup in the defense industry provided more job opportunities. Other minorities settled in the county during its residential development, and African Americans are now a minority. Template:US Census population

As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Fort Bend County was $395,730.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, an estimated 281,259 households are in Fort Bend County, with an average of 3.04 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $113,409. About 8.5% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Fort Bend County has an estimated 66.7% employment rate, with 49.3% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 91.9% holding a high-school diploma.<ref name="QF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The top-five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (57.2%), Spanish (18.3%), Indo-European (9.5%), Asian and Pacific Islander (11.9%), and other (3.0%). The median age in the county was 37.6 years.

Fort Bend County, Texas – racial and ethnic composition
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White alone (NH) 79,549
(60.80%)		 121,245
(53.79%)		 163,788
(46.21%)		 211,680
(36.16%)		 243,726
(29.62%)
Black or African American alone (NH) 20,132
(15.39%)		 45,678
(20.26%)		 69,579
(19.63%)		 123,267
(21.06%)		 167,964
(20.41%)
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 276
(0.21%)		 411
(0.18%)		 621
(0.18%)		 1,159
(0.20%)		 1,269
(0.15%)
Asian alone (NH) 3,725
(2.85%)		 13,978
(6.20%)		 39,545
(11.16%)		 98,762
(16.87%)		 181,522
(22.06%)
Pacific Islander alone (NH) — — 97
(0.03%)		 174
(0.03%)		 276
(0.03%)
Other race alone (NH) 508
(0.39%)		 217
(0.10%)		 544
(0.15%)		 1,341
(0.23%)		 4,055
(0.49%)
Mixed race or multiracial (NH) — — 5,407
(1.53%)		 10,025
(1.71%)		 25,387
(3.09%)
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 26,656
(20.37%)		 43,892
(19.47%)		 74,871
(21.12%)		 138,967
(23.74%)		 198,580
(24.14%)
Total 130,846
(100.00%)		 225,421
(100.00%)		 354,452
(100.00%)		 585,375
(100.00%)		 822,797
(100.00%)

2020 censusEdit

As of the 2020 census, 822,797 people, 263,128 households, and 215,579 families resided in the county.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. The 277,910 housing units had an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 34.3% White, 20.78% African American, 0.56% Native American, 22.18% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 9.14% from some other races and 12.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 24.14% of the population.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2000 censusEdit

As of the 2000 census, 354,452 people, 110,915 households, and 93,057 families resided in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. The 115,991 housing units had an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 56.96% White, 19.85% African American, 0.30% Native American, 11.20% Asian, 9.14% from some other race, and 2.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 21.12% of the population. Other self-identifications were 8.8% of German ancestry, 6.3% American, and 5.8% English ancestry.

Of the110,915 households, 49.8% had children under 18 living with them, 68.8% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.10% were not families. About 13.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.10% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.14 and the average family size wass 3.46.

In the county, the age distribution of the population was 32.0% under 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 96.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $63,831, and that for a family was $69,781. Males had a median income of $47,979 versus $32,661 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,985; 7.1% of the population and 5.5% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total population, 8.5% of those under 18 and 9.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Ethnic backgroundsEdit

Since the 1970s, Fort Bend County has been attracting people from all ethnic backgrounds. According to a 2001 Claritas study, it was the fifth-most diverse U.S. county, among counties with a population of 100,000 or more.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

It is one of a growing number of U.S. counties with no single ethnic group forming a majority of the population. Fort Bend County has the highest percentage of Asian-American residents in the Southern United States; the largest groups are of Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, and Filipino ancestry. By 2011, Fort Bend was ranked the fourth-most racially diverse county in the United States by USA Today. The newspaper based the ranking on calculating the probability that two persons selected at random would be of different ethnic groups or races. According to the USA Today methodology, the chance of people of being two different ethnic groups/races being selected was 75%. Karl Eschbach, a former demographer with the State of Texas, has said that many people from Houston neighborhoods and communities with clear racial identities, such as the East End, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward, moved to suburban areas that were too new to have established racial identities. Eschbach explained, "[a]s a large minority middle class started to emerge, Fort Bend was virgin territory that all groups could move to."<ref name="KeverCrossroads">Kever, Jeannie. "FACING A CROSSROADS Template:Webarchive." Houston Chronicle. June 1, 2011. Retrieved on June 3, 2011.</ref>

In 2020, Fort Bend County had the highest percentage of Asian Americans of any county in Texas. In 2019, Indian Americans made up almost 50% of the Asian Americans in the county, with the second- and third-largest subsets being Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans. From 2010 to 2020, the percentage of non-Hispanic White residents declined by 4.8% (though this population grew in absolute numbers), the Asian-American community grew by 83,167 (83.7% increase), the percentage of Hispanic people increased by 42.9%, and the percentage of Black people increased by 35.9%.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fort Bend County also has the highest percentage of Filipino Americans in the Greater Houston area and in state of Texas.<ref name=":0" /> Filipinos are also the fourth-largest Asian subset in the county.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Economic characteristicsEdit

According to the 2008 American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the county was $81,456, and for a family was $90,171.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Males had a median income of $54,139 versus $41,353 for females. The per capita income for the county was $30,862. About 5.5% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under 18 and 9.4% of those 65 or over.

As of 2006, Fort Bend County was the wealthiest county in Texas, with a median household income of $95,389 and a median family income of $105,944, having surpassed Collin and Rockwall Counties since the 2000 census. However, the Council for Community and Economic Research ranked Fort Bend County America's third-wealthiest county when the local cost of living was factored in.<ref>Cost of Living Can Significantly Affect "Real" Median Household Income Template:Webarchive, Council for Community and Economic Research website. Retrieved December 9, 2007.</ref> This estimate did not include property taxes and local taxes, as effective tax rates and home insurance were not measured. Along with other Texas counties, Fort Bend County has one of the nation's highest property-tax rates. In 2007, it was ranked fifth in the nation for property taxes as a percentage of the homes' value on owner-occupied housing. The list includes only counties with a population over 65,000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fort Bend County also ranked in the top 100 in property taxes paid and percentage of taxes of income. Part of this is due to Texas's complex Robin Hood plan school financing law.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Government and politicsEdit

Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot Template:U.S. SenHead Template:U.S. SenRow Template:U.S. SenFoot County politics in Fort Bend County, as in all Texas counties, center around a commissioners' court. It is composed of four popularly elected county commissioners, one representing each precinct drawn decennially on the basis of population, and a county judge elected to represent the entire county. Other county officials include a sheriff, district attorney, tax assessor-collector, county clerk, district clerk, county treasurer, and county attorney.

For decades, Fort Bend County was a stronghold for the Democratic Party, having achieved disenfranchisement of Blacks at the county level in 1889 in the aftermath of the Jaybird–Woodpecker War.<ref name="jay" /> The state effectively disfranchised them with a poll tax and White primaries; the latter device was declared unconstitutional in 1944. By 1960, so few Republicans resided in Fort Bend County that the county's Republican chair once received a letter addressed simply to "Mr. Republican".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As the 1960s progressed, though, rapid suburban-style development in west and southwest Houston began to overflow into Fort Bend County, where the development of numerous master-planned communities attracted many upper-middle-class families to developments in the eastern portion of the county. This development, along with the shift of conservative white Democrats towards the Republican Party in the wake of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, led to increased support for the GOP in the following years.<ref name="voting">Bernstein, Alan and Zen T. C. Zheng. "Fort Bend accepts vote decree Template:Webarchive," Houston Chronicle. April 10, 2009. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.</ref> Richard Nixon narrowly carried the county in 1968, making it the only county in greater Houston outside of Harris County to go Republican that year, and carried it again in 1972. In 1976, conservative physician Ron Paul of Brazoria County, noted for his opposition to most government programs, which earned him the nickname "Dr. No", captured the 22nd district in the United States House of Representatives in a special election, before narrowly losing re-election in the November election in which Gerald Ford also won Fort Bend, despite losing Texas to Jimmy Carter.

Beginning in 1978, Republicans began to win several offices within the county, with William P. Clements carrying the county in his successful run for governor. That same year, Paul was returned to Congress, while businessman Tom DeLay captured the county's seat in the Texas House of Representatives. In 1984 DeLay succeeded Paul in Congress after the latter ran an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, and became House majority leader by 2002. Beginning in 1982, Republicans won a number of county-level offices and judicial benches, and Fort Bend County's new reputation as a Republican stronghold culminated in the 1994 election of a Republican county judge to the commissioners' court for the first time since Reconstruction. As of 2019, five of Fort Bend County's eight countywide offices, including two precinct-level positions, are held by Republicans. The remaining three are held by Democrats.

With growing populations of minorities and more socially moderate suburban voters who often break Republican on fiscal and economic issues, Fort Bend County has recently become more competitive. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama came very close to winning the county, with 48.6% of the vote to Republican John McCain's 50.9%. In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first Democrat to carry the county since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, largely due to the unpopularity of Republican nominee Donald Trump amongst the county's largely suburban electorate (not unlike the situation with other similarly suburban counties during the Trump era), with many voters splitting their tickets between Clinton and Republicans for other offices; Republicans won every elected countywide office by a margin similar to Clinton's, while also defeating an incumbent Democrat on the Fort Bend County Commissioners' Court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2018, significant enthusiasm for U.S. Senate candidate Beto O' Rourke and strong Democratic infrastructure resulted in Democratic control of the commissioners' court (including county judge) and a number of countywide administrative and judicial posts, with Fort Bend Independent School District board trustee K.P. George becoming Texas's first Asian-American county judge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The county would continue its Democratic trend in the 2020 election, with Joe Biden winning Fort Bend County over Trump by a margin of over 10 percent and Democrats sweeping all countywide races. In 2024, the diverse county swung slightly more Republican, with Vice President Kamala Harris only winning a narrow plurality over Trump and Republicans winning a majority of contested countywide and state judicial races.

Today, Fort Bend County is often considered a swing county, with election results usually tilting more Democratic than statewide results, which continue to favor Republicans. Elections within the county are often decided by margins in more Republican-leaning areas in Sugar Land, Rosenberg, and Sienna, with Republicans dominating in the Katy, Fulshear, and rural southern areas of the county and Democrats in the county's northeast corner around Missouri City and Fresno, as well as heavily Hispanic Mission Bend.

Fort Bend County is one of six "reverse pivot counties", counties that voted Republican in 2008 and 2012 before voting Democratic in 2016 onward.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the federal government has enforced it by regularly reviewing voting patterns and local practices, and plaintiffs have sometimes sued state or local governments over discriminatory practices. In April 2009, as part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice, officials of Fort Bend County agreed to increase assistance to Spanish-speaking Latino voters in elections held in the county.<ref name="voting" />

Commissioners' courtEdit

Commissioners Name Party First Elected Communities Represented
  Judge KP George Democratic 2018 Countywide
  Precinct 1 citation CitationClass=web

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Republican 2016 Arcola, Beasley, Fairchilds, Fresno, Greatwood, Needville, Orchard, Richmond, Rosenberg, Sienna Plantation
  Precinct 2 Grady Prestage Democratic 1990 eastern Stafford, most of Missouri City east of FM 1092, Meadows Place, Mission Bend
  Precinct 3 Andy Meyers Republican 1996 Cinco Ranch, Fulshear, Lakemont, Pecan Grove, Simonton, small portions of Sugar Land
  Precinct 4 Dexter L. McCoy Democratic 2022 Most of Sugar Land, Missouri City west of FM 1092, New Territory, Riverstone

County officialsEdit

Office Name Party
  County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson Democratic
  County Clerk Laura Richard Republican
  District Attorney Brian Middleton Democratic
  District Clerk Beverley McGrew Walker Democratic
  Sheriff Eric Fagan Democratic
  Tax Assessor-Collector Carmen Turner Democratic
  Treasurer Bill Rickert Republican

United States CongressEdit

Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Senators Name Party First Elected Level
  Senate Class 1 Ted Cruz Republican 2012 Junior Senator
  Senate Class 2 John Cornyn Republican 2002 Senior senator
Representatives Name Party First Elected Area(s) of Fort Bend County Represented
  District 7 Lizzie Fletcher Democratic 2018 Mission Bend, Four Corners, western portions of Sugar Land, and unincorporated portions of the north-central part of the county
  District 9 Al Green Democratic 2004 Northeastern corner of the county, including Fresno and most of Stafford, Missouri City, and the county's portion of Houston
  District 22 Troy Nehls Republican 2020 Greater Katy areas, Fulshear, Richmond, Rosenberg, Sienna, eastern portion of Sugar Land, and southwestern Missouri City

Texas LegislatureEdit

Texas SenateEdit

District<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

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Name Party First Elected Area(s) of Fort Bend County Represented
  13 Borris Miles Democratic 2016 Fresno, Fifth Street, most of Missouri City, the county's share of Pearland and Stafford, and most of the county's share of Houston
  17 Joan Huffman Republican 2008 Northwestern and southern areas of the county, including Fulshear, eastern portions of Sugar Land, and the county's share of Cinco Ranch and Katy
  18 Lois Kolkhorst Republican 2015 (special) Central areas of the county, including Richmond, Rosenberg, Mission Bend, Pecan Grove, Four Corners, and western portions of Sugar Land

Texas House of RepresentativesEdit

District<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

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Name Party First Elected Area(s) of Fort Bend County Represented
  26 Jacey Jetton Republican 2020 Richmond, Pecan Grove, most of Cinco Ranch, some of Rosenberg and Katy, and other northern and central areas of the county
  27 Ron Reynolds Democratic 2010 Missouri City, Sienna Plantation, Fresno, Arcola, much of Stafford, and county's share of Houston
  28 Gary Gates Republican 2020 Western and southern areas of county including Fulshear, most of Rosenberg and much of Sugar Land
  76 Suleman Lalani Democratic 2022 Northern areas of county including Meadows Place, Four Corners, and some of Sugar Land, Stafford and Mission Bend
  85 Stan Kitzman Republican 2022 Southern fringe of the county, including Thompsons and Kendleton; district also includes Austin, Colorado, Fayette, Waller and Wharton counties

CorrectionsEdit

The Fort Bend County Jail is at 1410 Richmond Parkway in Richmond.<ref>"Detention." Fort Bend County. October 3, 2006.</ref>

Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the following facilities in Fort Bend County, all at the Jester State Prison Farm site:

Prisons for men:

Other facilities:

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The TDCJ announced that the Central Unit in Sugar Land was closing in 2011. The City of Sugar Land is exploring the property for future economic development, including light industrial uses, as well as a potential expansion of Sugar Land Regional Airport.<ref>Ward, Mike. "Texas closing prison as part of cutbacks Template:Webarchive." Austin American-Statesman at KDH News. Wednesday August 3, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.</ref>

County buildingsEdit

  • Richmond TX FBC Service Center.jpg

    Fort Bend County Justice Center at 1422 Eugene Heimann Cir.

  • Richmond TX Wm Travis Bldg.jpg

    William B. Travis Building is just east of the courthouse.

  • FortBendRosenAnnex.jpg

    Fort Bend County Rosenberg Annex

EconomyEdit

In contrast to greater Houston in general, Fort Bend County's economy is more diverse, with numerous service-sector jobs in healthcare, energy, education, hospitality, and other areas. Major companies with a presence in the county include Schlumberger, Minute Maid, Fluor, and Sunoco's logistics operations in Sugar Land. The Houston Business Journal reported in 2010 that the diversity of industries promoted decades of rapid population growth.<ref>"Fort Bend County tops Forbes growth list." Houston Business Journal. Tuesday February 2, 2010. Retrieved on February 8, 2010.</ref> After Memorial Hermann Hospital and St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital opened facilities in Fort Bend County, already home to local facilities for Houston Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land, as well as locally based OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, many doctors moved their offices to the county.<ref>Latson, Jennifer. "Businesses finding the suburbs superb Template:Webarchive." Houston Chronicle. May 18, 2010. Retrieved on May 24, 2010.</ref> Compared to Montgomery County, which has experienced rapid growth in corporate employment following ExxonMobil's decision to move its greater Houston operations to an area directly south of The Woodlands, Fort Bend County has yet to experience significant corporate growth, though Schlumberger recently announced plans to move its North American headquarters to Sugar Land.

HealthcareEdit

The county does not have a hospital district. OakBend Medical Center serves as the county's charity hospital, with which the county contracts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

EducationEdit

Public school districtsEdit

School districts in the county include:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} - Text list</ref>

Kendleton Independent School District, which formerly served parts of the county,<ref>Texas Education Agency: See map of Fort Bend County. Retrieved on July 3, 2022.</ref> closed in 2010 and merged into LCISD.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Higher educationEdit

The Texas Legislature assigns these community college districts to the following:<ref>Texas Education Code Sec. 130.182. HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM DISTRICT SERVICE AREA. Sec. 130.211. WHARTON COUNTY JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.. Retrieved on March 10, 2024.</ref>

  • Houston Community College System: Katy ISD, Stafford MSD, and portions of FBISD in the Houston, Missouri City, and Pearland city limits, and areas not in Wharton County Junior College (in other words, not in Sugar Land, not in Sugar Land's extraterritorial jurisdiction)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }} - See profile page - Pecan Grove is directly indicated on that map.</ref>

  • Wharton County Junior College: The City of Sugar Land and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, Lamar CISD (including the former Kendleton ISD), Needville ISD, and Brazos ISD (stated in the legislation as Wallis-Orchard)

Technical schoolEdit

LibrariesEdit

Fort Bend County Libraries operates many libraries in the county.

Houston Public Library operates one branch in the county, the Stimley Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library in Blue Ridge, Houston.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

MediaEdit

Local newspapers in the county include three weeklies: the Fort Bend Star, headquartered in Stafford; the Fort Bend Independent; and the Fort Bend Sun, headquartered in Sugar Land. The daily Fort Bend Herald and Texas Coaster focuses on news coverage in the Richmond-Rosenberg area. Fort Bend County is also a major service area for the Houston Chronicle, which provides separate local coverage for the Sugar Land and Katy areas.

TransportationEdit

Major highwaysEdit

File:EnterFortBend.JPG
Farm to Market Road 1092, a major entry into the county

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Major Farm to Market RoadsEdit

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AirportsEdit

Template:More citations needed section The sole publicly owned airport in the county is Sugar Land Regional Airport in Sugar Land.

Privately owned airports for public use include:

Privately owned for private use:

  • Cardiff Brothers Airport in an unincorporated area near Fulshear and Katy
  • Dewberry Heliport is a general-aviation heliport (privately owned, for private use) in unincorporated areas between Fulshear and Katy.

The closest airport with regularly scheduled commercial service is Houston's William P. Hobby Airport in Harris County. Fort Bend County is also within the primary service area of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.<ref>"Master Plan Executive Summary Template:Webarchive." George Bush Intercontinental Airport Master Plan. Houston Airport System. December 2006. 2-1 (23/130). Retrieved on December 14, 2010.</ref>

Mass transitEdit

Fort Bend County officially created a department of public transportation in 2005 that provides commuter buses to Uptown, Greenway Plaza, and Texas Medical Center. It also provides demand-and-response buses to senior citizens and the general public that travel only in Fort Bend County.<ref>http://www.FBCTransit.org Fort Bend County Transit</ref> Parts of the county, such as Katy and Missouri City, participate in the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County and are served by several park-and-ride routes.

Freeway systemEdit

The TTC-69 component (recommended preferred) of the once-planned Trans-Texas Corridor went through Fort Bend County.<ref>TxDoT, TTC Section C & S, Detailed Maps 2 & 3, December 17, 2007Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Toll roadsEdit

The Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority in Sugar Land manages and operates tolled portions of these toll roads operating in the county:

Notable peopleEdit

See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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