Terry Race Track On South Kirkwood Rd.

[Highrise Tower]

I was looking at a 1955 map of Sugar Land when I noticed an oval race track.  The oval track is near Alkire Lake, Eldridge Lake, and the Houston Fishing Club Lake.

Edit: This could also be considered Stafford, Texas.

While searching for a name of the race track, Sugar Land's official government website indicates the race track belonged to one of the cofounders of Sugar Land, Benjamin Franklin Terry. According to Wikipedia, Benjamin Terry lived from February 18, 1821 to December 17, 1861. 

Looking for traces of the race track, I found it on both Google Earth Desktop and HA.  HA had aerial photos of the race track in 1953.  I don't think the race track would still be visible and still in the oval shape some 92 years after Benjamin Terry had died.  The race track would be covered up with grass and trees over the past 90 years.  Unless if someone, or some group, kept the race track alive for 92 years after Benjamin Terry's death. 

The City of Sugarland's history page says this: The Terry/Kyle plantation, particularly Terry’s opulent home, became the area’s social center. The house included a ballroom and was close to a horse track.  Terry’s home and race track were located near today’s Sugar Mill Elementary School; 13707 Jess Pirtle Blvd, Sugar Land, TX 77498.

The track was located at the intersection of South Kirkwood Road and Wright Road; just off South Main Street (Highway 90).  You can map it yourselves by going to Walong Marketing, Inc. at 12950 S Kirkwood Rd, Stafford, TX 77477.  

[Highrise Tower]

Here's an irrelevant, but interesting tidbit these '53 aerials show.  I've mentioned to several friends my age that there was a race track in Stafford, roughly where the Southwest Freeway intersects with Highway 90A.  They don't remember it.  Well, it appears in the next photo.

I barely remember it as a very dilapidated wooden structure with pealing white paint and (I think) black trim.  It may have hosted motorcycle racing and dog racing, possibly other things, too.  It was certainly going to the dogs when I saw it.

http://wateringholdclubhouse.blogspot.com/2015/05/

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

Here's an overlay pic. This thread did answer a question i had for almost 50 years, but forgot about.... When riding the bus into Sugar Land Jr High (Trojans, not Titans... .) when it first opened, we would ride by a huge abandoned mansion set back on the south side of Lakeview Drive. This was 1976-1979, a long time before there was a neighborhood surrounding the school. Back then, 7th street ended at the school's driveway. We all always wondered whose mansion it was, and why such a huge place was abandoned. Some of the Sugar Land kids said people were murdered there, so it was abandoned... I always thought they were full of crap.

Now I know it was BF Terry's mansion.

Anyway, the old race track is partially under 59.
the obscene word on the 1953 map has been blurred. (it would have been called Lester road in 1953, they renamed it to the D-Word in the late 70's)