Texas Sugar Refining Company
The Texas City Transportation Company established the Texas Sugar Refining Company in 1910 to increase its profits by locating a sugar refinery at the Texas City port. A ten-acre tract on this site was chosen as early as 1910, but negotiations proceeded slowly.
The refinery complex was designed by Eastwick Engineering. The Kirby Lumber Company of Houston supplied all lumber for the five million dollar project. Comprised of nine large buildings, the refinery employed three hundred and fifty people and produced one million pounds of "Diamond Star" granulated and powdered sugar daily. In 1926, the company signed a three-year contract with the American Sugar Company to refine and package sugar under the American Sugar label.
Two years later, the Chicago Title & Trust Company filed suit against the Texas Sugar Refining Company for a three million dollar outstanding mortgage balance. This debt led the company into bankruptcy. The refinery was sold at public auction for two million dollars. In January 1929 the Texas Sugar Refining Company reorganized as the Texas Sugar Refining Corporation and returned to refining and marketing its own "Diamond Star" sugar. The corporation closed its operations in April 1932.
The Texas Sugar Refining Company played a significant role in the early industrial development of Texas City and provided competition for the nearby Imperial Sugar Company. The refinery facilities were later acquired by the Monsanto Chemical Company and were virtually destroyed in the 1947 Texas City dock explosions. (1998).