DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the City of Katy. Now before there was a city, before there was a railroad, before there was even a name on a map, there were the Karankawa. They were hunting buffalo on this very ground as late as the 1820s.
Let that sink in for a moment — buffalo, right here, where the subdivisions and the traffic lights now stand. And running through it all, even then, was a road. The San Felipe Road, opened to Austin's colony in that same decade.
Fifth Street, if you're driving it today, is following that same ancient course. Same road, different century. And that road had a habit of attracting history.
In 1836, Santa Anna himself marched his army right along it — headed toward San Jacinto. Just... rolled on through what would one day be Katy, Texas. The ground under this town has seen some things.
Go back a little further, and in 1839, this site was part of a land grant given to James J. Crawford, a citizen of the Republic of Texas. The republic was barely breathing on its own, and Crawford was already staking his claim.
Then comes 1863, and the story gets somber. Thirty-five Confederate soldiers died at their camp right here on San Felipe Road and were buried in the locality. Thirty-five men.
The road that Santa Anna marched on became a resting place for soldiers who never made it home. You don't rush past that. Now, the original settlement went by the name Cane Island, and it made its living as a stagecoach stop.
Travelers rolling through, horses rested, stories traded. But the real turning point — the moment that put a new name on things — came in 1895, when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad reached this point. Folks called it the Katy Line.
The developers platted the Katy townsite right then and there, named after the railroad that made it possible. The post office followed close behind, opening on January 23rd, 1896, right inside the postmaster's own mercantile store. And then, quietly, a man named William Eule changed the whole direction of the local economy.
In 1897, he grew a rice crop. That's it. That one crop launched what would become the area's major industry.
His son Fred took it further — in 1899, he dug an irrigation well for those very rice fields. Father plants the seed, son digs the well. That's a good Texas story right there.
But 1900 had other plans. The hurricane of 1900 came through and razed or damaged every single improvement in Katy — every last one, except two houses. Two.
But the town was soon rebuilt. That's the part the marker wants you to remember: it came back. Beginning in 1927, nearby petroleum developments started enhancing the local economy, adding yet another layer to what this ground could provide.
Katy incorporated in 1945, counted 849 people in 1950, and by 1970 that number had grown to 3,800. Today it stretches across not one county, not two, but three — Fort Bend, Harris, and Waller — a tri-county municipality that started as a Karankawa hunting ground and grew into something those thirty-five soldiers buried on San Felipe Road could never have imagined. Some roads just refuse to stop carrying history.
What the marker says
Karankawa Indians hunted buffalo on this site as late as the 1820s. Present Fifth Street follows the course of the San Felipe Road, which was opened to Austin's colony in that decade. In 1836 Santa Anna used that road in his march toward San Jacinto. This site was in the 1839 land grant of Republic of Texas citizen James J. Crawford. In 1863 at their camp on San Felipe Road, 35 Confederate soldiers died and were buried in the locality. Cane Island, the original settlement, was known as a stagecoach stop. Developers platted Katy townsite after Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad ("The Katy Line") reached this point in 1895. The post office opened Jan. 23, 1896, in the postmaster's mercantile store. In 1897, William Eule grew a rice crop, initiating the locality's major industry. Eule's son Fred dug an irrigation well for the rice fields in 1899. The 1900 hurricane razed or damaged all improvements except two houses in Katy, but the town was soon rebuilt. Beginning in 1927, nearby petroleum developments enhanced the local economy. Incorporated n 1945, the town had 849 people in 1950 and 3800 by 1970. It is a tri-county municipality, lying in Fort Bend, Harris, and Waller counties.