The Foster Community began in the fall of 1821 as a permanent campsite settled by Randolph Foster on what was then one of the largest single land grants in Texas, the 11,601-acre John Foster grant deeded by Stephen F. Austin through the relationship between Foster, his father John, and Austin. John Foster was one of Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists, and Foster family members participated in the Texas War for Independence. In the 1840s, sugar cane was the area's dominant industry, and the community thrived from its production and export, while pecans and cotton also benefited the community. Local residents tamed wild horses found on the upland prairies for domestic use and trade. The first school, offering up to grade five, met in Randolph Foster's home before a one-room schoolhouse was built and also used for early community religious services, while African American students attended Jones Creek school. In 1882, the first post office began mail service from the area's general store. Local sugar production grew so large that Imperial Sugar Company built a railroad between the community and mills in Sugar Land in the 1920s, and in 1928 Sugar Land Industries bought acreage in the area and named it Foster Farms. By the end of World War II, the end of area sugar crops, the closing of the railroad, the Great Depression, and changes in ownership and farming techniques had led to the community's decline. In 1944, the schools, post office, and general store closed. Adjacent to Houston today, Foster survives in memory as a pioneer Texas community.