The edition of The Fort Bend Mirror published on January 26th, 1956 included short articles on J. B. Fowler, V. F. Krehmeier, Jimmy Couvillion & their memories of coming to Sugar Land. (That issue is a gold mine of Sugar Land history, so I may post a few more of these articles.)
Notice J. B. Fowler's comment about the Brauner Hotel. I think that was the name of the family that ran it. (Maybe someone can correct me on that.) When they moved away, the establishment became known as The Imperial Inn. I've posted photos showing it. Also notice his comment that there were just a half-dozen houses on The Hill when he arrived in 1918. The Kempner-Eldridge partnership had not yet started fixing up the town to attract permanent residents.
Mr. Krehmeier recollects a big winter storm in 1925 in which the water tower froze!
Jimmy Couvillion's original home town was Lafayette, Louisiana. His first job was in the old drug store. Never knew either of those things.
W. T. Matlage, Sr. recalls his memories in the next article. Notice his comment about duck hunting in the area where Imperial Sugar's offices now stand. There's a very good panoramic picture of that area hanging in the Sugar Land Museum. It's dated 1913, or 1915 -- I can't remember exactly. It shows what he's talking about: a slough surrounded by willows, reeds & similar water-side vegetation.
I don't have a scan of the Museum's photo, but here's one taken several decades later, probably the early 1940s. It appears that Sugarland Industries had put the area under cultivation, or filled in the low area, but you can make out where the slough was.
Just a side note: One old timer has told me Mr. Matlage kept a sharp eye on the ice cream containers at the old (pre-1952) drug store. Girls behind the counter were prone to giving extra scoops of ice cream to their boy friends if he wasn't looking.
