DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Picture this: it's 1890, and two Houston realtors — R.M. Cash and L.E.
Luckel — have got a vision. They're lookin' out at this stretch of Fort Bend County land, and they see opportunity. Not just any opportunity, mind you, but a very specific one.
They want to pull settlers down from Missouri and Illinois, folks who maybe haven't heard yet about what Texas has to offer. So they start talkin' it up, promotin' the land, workin' the deal. The settlement they're building sits on four sections of land purchased from the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad.
Four sections. That's not a little patch of dirt. By 1894, the townsite gets properly platted — on the property of W.R.
McElroy of Houston — and Missouri City has itself a name on a map. Now, here's where I have to ask you to brace yourself, because nature was fixin' to make a point. 1895. A severe snowstorm rolls in and causes extensive damage.
Extensive. And here's the thing about those settlers who'd come down from Missouri and Illinois — a big part of the pitch was the mild climate of the coastal region. You can imagine how a major snowstorm landed with that crowd.
Discouraged, the marker says, and a good number of them left for other areas. You really can't blame them. But the ones who stayed?
They'd barely caught their breath when 1900 arrived — and with it, a destructive hurricane. When the storm passed, only three homes were left standing. Three.
In the whole town. Three homes. Now that is a low point.
That is a community starin' into the abyss. And yet — they rebuilt. The marker is plain about it: despite the early setbacks, the settlers rebuilt, and Missouri City became a flourishing town.
Sometimes the story really is that simple and that hard all at once. The town found its footing through ranching and farming, and it grew into a major railroad shipping center. Then in 1920, oil was discovered here.
A salt mine opened a few years after that. The economic picture kept filling in. Missouri City incorporated in 1956, and Robert A.
Stallings became its first mayor. The community schools, which had been established at this very site back in 1895 — same year as that snowstorm, mind you — became part of the Fort Bend Independent School District in 1959. From four sections of railroad land and a sales pitch aimed at Midwesterners, through a snowstorm and a hurricane that left three walls standing, to an incorporated city with oil wells and a school district.
Missouri City didn't just survive its story. It earned it.
What the marker says
In 1890 Houston realtors R.M. Cash and L.E. Luckel began a real estate development here, promoted to attract settlers from Missouri and Illinois. The settlement was established on four sections of land purchased from the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad. In 1894 the townsite of Missouri City was platted on the property of W.R. McElroy of Houston. The early growth of the community was hindered by two major natural disasters that struck the area. In 1895 a severe snowstorm caused extensive damage. Many residents, attracted to the coastal region by the mild climate, were discouraged and left for other areas. In 1900 a destructive hurricane hit the town, leaving only three homes standing. Despite the early setbacks, the settlers rebuilt and Missouri City became a flourishing town. Oil was discovered here in 1920 and a salt mine opened a few years later. The economic development of the area, which included ranching and farming, helped make the town a major railroad shipping center. Missouri City incorporated in 1956 and Robert A. Stallings served as the first mayor. The community schools, established at this site in 1895, became part of the Fort Bend Independent School District in 1959. (1981)