DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Foster Community in Fort Bend County — here's my telling of it. Now, most communities ease into existence slow and quiet, but Foster had a different kind of beginning. In the fall of 1821, a man named Randolph Foster — born in 1790 — set down a permanent campsite on what was, at the time, one of the largest single land grants in all of Texas.
Eleven thousand, six hundred and one acres. Let that number sit with you a moment. Eleven thousand, six hundred and one.
That land came by way of Stephen F. Austin himself. The grant was deeded to Randolph's father, John Foster — born 1757 — who was among Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, that first wave of settlers who put down roots and changed the shape of a territory.
The Foster family didn't just settle the land, either. They showed up when it counted — Foster family members participated in the Texas War for Independence. Randolph, born 1790, lived all the way to 1887.
And in the years between, he watched that campsite grow into something real. By the 1840s, sugar cane had become the dominant industry of the area. The Foster community thrived on its production and export.
Pecans and cotton added to the mix, and out on the upland prairies, local residents were taming wild horses for domestic use and trade. Picture that — men roping down horses that had never known a fence. The community built itself up piece by piece.
The first school started right there in Randolph Foster's own home, offering grades up through five. Eventually they raised a one-room schoolhouse, which also served for early religious services. African American students attended Jones Creek School.
Then in 1882, the community's first post office opened, running mail service right out of the local general store. And then came the sugar boom. By the 1920s, production had gotten so substantial that Imperial Sugar Company built a railroad connecting Foster community to the mills in Sugar Land.
A whole railroad, laid down just to move what this community was growing. In 1928, Sugar Land Industries came in, bought acreage in the area, and named it Foster Farms. But here's where the story turns.
By the end of World War II, Foster was unraveling. The sugar crops ended. The railroad closed.
The Great Depression had already done its work. Ownership changed hands, farming techniques shifted, and the ground that Randolph Foster had camped on back in 1821 no longer looked like what he'd built. In 1944, the schools closed.
The post office closed. The general store closed. Today, Foster sits adjacent to Houston — the state's largest urban area — and exists, as the marker puts it, in memory.
A pioneer Texas community that began with one man, a campsite, and eleven thousand six hundred and one acres of possibility. Not every story ends with a monument you can touch. Sometimes the marker is all that's left standing.
What the marker says
The Foster community began in the fall of 1821 as a permanent campsite settled by Randolph Foster (1790-1887) on what was then one of the largest single land grants in Texas (11,601 acres). The John Foster grant, deeded by Stephen F. Austin, came from the relationship between Foster, his father John (1757-1837) and Austin. John was one of Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists, and Foster family members participated in the Texas War for Independence. Sugar cane was the area's dominant industry in the 1840s, and Foster community thrived from its production and export. Other crops that benefited the community included pecans and cotton. Local residents tamed wild horses found on the upland prairies for domestic use and trade. The community's first school, which offered up to grade five, was held in Randolph Foster's home before construction of a one-room schoolhouse also used for early community religious services. African American students studied at Jones Creek School. The community's first post office initiated mail service from the area's general store in 1882. The volume of local sugar production was so great that in the 1920s, Imperial Sugar Company built a railroad between Foster community and mills in Sugar Land. In 1928, Sugar Land Industries bought acreage in this area and named it Foster Farms. By the end of World War II, several factors led to the community's decline: the end of area sugar crops; the closing of the railroad; the Great Depression; and changes in ownership and farming techniques. In 1944, the community's schools, post office and general store closed. Today, adjacent to Houston, the state's largest urban area, Foster exists in memory as a pioneer Texas community. (2005)