Planation house at Varner-Hogg Plantation
Sugar cane harvesting
Sugar cane harvesting
Large kettles used in sugar cane harvesting
Sarah Ford, a former slave at Varner-Hogg Plantation, c. 1937 (Library of Congress)
White wood framed house with covered porches in front and back
Following Stephen F. Austin to Texas, Martin Varner and several slaves settled on this land in 1824. In 1834, Varner sold the land to the Patton family, who brought a large number of slaves to the property and established it as a sugar plantation that operated continuously until the Civil War. Slaves made bricks by hand and constructed many buildings on this site, including the plantation house and slaves’ quarters. The line of bricks that surrounds the large kettle is all that remains of the sugar mill, where slaves processed sugarcane to produce molasses by boiling it in kettles. The availability of brick materials was probably one reason way this site appealed to the original settlers, and income derived from the manufacture and sale of bricks may have supplemented the plantation’s agricultural production.
Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site
- Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
- Admission: Adults: $4, Ages 6-18, students with ID: $4
- 1702 North 13th St., West Columbia, TX
- 979-345-4656
- Visit Website
- National Register of Historic Places, a Texas Historical Commission property
