The city of Richmond is the seat of Fort Bend County in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 11,081. Richmond city boundaries are joined on one hand with Sugar Land and with the city of Rosenberg on the other hand.

Even though it is the county seat, thus containing most of the local government offices, it actually is one of the smaller cities in the area. Adjacent Sugar Land is the largest city in the county.

In 1822, a group of Austin's colonists went up the Brazos River, stopping near present day Richmond where they built a fort called Fort Bend. Named after Richmond, England, the town was among the 19 cities first incorporated by the short-lived Republic of Texas, in 1837. Early residents of the city include many prominent figures in Texas lore such as Jane Long, Deaf Smith, and Mirabeau Lamar, who are all buried in Richmond. On August 16, 1889, the town was the site of the Battle of Richmond, an armed fight culminating the Jaybird-Woodpecker War, a violent feud over post-Reconstruction political control of Fort Bend County. The Mayor since 1949 has been Hilmar Moore.