Brazoria County was the leading sugar producing county in Texas in the 1840's and 1850's. Sugar cane was grown and processed in sugar mills on large plantations using slave labor. After the cane was ground and the juice was extracted, the cane juice was cooked in a series of vats or kettles. The boiling juice was skimmed and transferred into progressively smaller kettles until the juice was ready to be ladled into cooling troughs to crystallize. Sugar cane continued to be grown in Brazoria County until the early 1900's. This kettle came from the Turner Ranch near Bonney. It is 7 ft. 4 in. in diameter, 24 in. deep, and holds 576 gallons.