Sugar Mills Ruins - West Columbia, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 29° 09.812 W 095° 38.291
15R E 243397 N 3228984
Located on the grounds of the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site.
Waymark Code: WMY7QP
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/06/2018
Views: 2
Texas Historic Site AtlasMartin Varner settled on this property in 1824. He grew sugarcane and became the first colonist in Texas to distill rum from molasses. In 1834, Varner sold this plantation to Columbus R. Patton. Columbus took over the place and developed it into a productive sugar plantation. Although as many as 60 slaves lived and worked there, it was not the largest or most productive sugar enterprise in the county, but it was prosperous and larger than the average.
The largest outbuilding on the property was a sugar mill to the northeast of the main house, now evident only from brick foundations after its destruction by the infamous 1900 hurricane. One cistern was located on either side of the sugar mill.