Cinco Ranch

Cinco Ranch is a planned community located approximately twenty-five miles west of Houston and ten miles north of Richmond in northern Fort Bend County. Before the development began in the mid-1980s, the Cinco Ranch had been a working cattle ranch and rice farm on Buffalo Bayou which started in the 1930s when five families became partners in an outfit that they named Cinco Ranch. ( Cinco means five in Spanish.) In 1984 a conglomerate known as the Cinco Ranch Venture, consisting of U. S. Home, the Mischer Corporation, and American General Corporation , purchased the property and began to develop a community. Eventually American General bought out the other partners. Cinco Ranch is part of a 7,200-acre master plan designed by the developer Newland Communities and includes eight schools in the Katy Independent School District and additional private schools and preschools. The subdivision's recreational facilities include a golf course, athletic centers, and ample greenspace for trails. In 2000 Cinco Ranch had a population of 11,196. Many of the residents commuted to Houston.