James Reece Center - SL95 showcase

In early 2018, construction at the site of Fort Bend ISD’s new James Reese Career and Technical Center unearthed a forgotten piece of Sugar Land’s past: a historic cemetery where 95 individuals were buried, believed to be a part of a convict-leasing program that began in the late 1800s. Crews discovered the first human remains while backfilling a trench in February 2018. Over the next several months and with the guidance and recommendations from the Texas Historical Commission, archaelogists