Stafford Plantation
Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Stafford Plantation Tennessean William Joseph Stafford and his second wife, Martha Cartwright, moved their family to this area in 1822 as part of Stephen F. Austin's "old 300" colony. Here they reared eight children and developed a plantation with a sugar cane mill and cotton gin. The plantation, known as Stafford's Point, produced sugar with a high molasses content and prospered even when local cotton production was low. During the Texas Revolution, Mexican troops burned the plantation buildings, but the family rebuilt, and the settlement surrounding the plantation became a commercial center, known today as Stafford. This site is thought to be the cemetery of the early Stafford Plantation. (2003)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Tennessean William Joseph Stafford brought his family here in 1822 as members of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300," the first Anglo colonists in Mexican Texas, and built a plantation with a sugar mill and cotton gin known as Stafford's Point. Its high-molasses sugar prospered even in lean cotton years, until Mexican troops burned the buildings during the Texas Revolution. The family rebuilt, and the settlement that grew around the plantation survives today as the city of Stafford; this site is believed to be its early cemetery.
Why it matters
As one of Austin's founding colonial families, the Staffords helped plant the plantation economy and Anglo settlement that would define — and trouble — nineteenth-century Texas.
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Related people
- · William Joseph Stafford
- · Martha Cartwright Stafford
- · Stephen F. Austin
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
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