Foster

Foster, on Farm Road 359 ten miles northwest of Richmond in northwestern Fort Bend County, sits on land that was part of the 1824 grant to John and Randolph Foster. Before the Civil War the Foster plantation produced rice and sugarcane. The settlement was established by 1882, when the community of Foster acquired a post office. In 1884 Foster had semiweekly mail delivery, a steam gristmill and cotton gin, a physician, and a population of sixty. In 1892 the town had daily mail delivery and three gristmills. By 1896 a general store and a flour mill had been added, and by 1897 the community had two schools, one for White students and one for Black. In 1914 the town was noted for its pecan production. By 1925, however, the community's population had dwindled to forty; in 1931 only one business was reported, and no population figures were listed. Foster still had two community schools and was served by a blacktop road in 1936. The post office and schools were closed by the 1940s, but Foster still existed in 1990. No population estimates were available in 2000.