The city of Sugar Land now occupies the site that was once the Oakland Plantation. It was here that in 1843 Samuel May Williams installed a commercial sugar-grinding mill on his land, leading to a rapid shift from cotton to sugar cane as the area’s dominant crop. In 1905 the area’s sugar plantations were acquired by the Kempner family, who dubbed their company the Imperial Sugar Company. Though sugar has not been refined at the original plant since 2003, the company’s headquarters remains in Sugar Land, making it the oldest extant business in Texas.