The catalyst in the formation of the SLHF was the closing of the Imperial Sugar refinery in 2003. The refinery, which had been in continual operation since the mid 1800s, housed a vast historical treasure trove of artifacts, documents, and photographs that traced the evolution of the site from its early days as a working plantation into its more modern era as a company town. Many organizations beg
an to work together at this time to ensure that the priceless artifacts and the history of the site were preserved. Led by Dennis Parmer, whom had the time was serving on City Council, The City of Sugar Land, the Imperial Sugar Company, and Cherokee Investments developed a partnership approach to the creation of a community-based heritage museum which would collect, preserve, and exhibit the collection on the refinery site. The Sugar Land Heritage Foundation was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization in March 2008. The first Board meeting was held in October 2008, and a Strategic Planning session took place in February 2009. The City of Sugar Land has provided the seed funding for the formation of the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation along with generous support from Kempner Fund, Cherokee Investments, Johnson Development, Imperial Sugar, the Fort Bend Museum Association, and community representatives.
