The area in which
Missouri City is now
located holds a
significant part in
the history of Texas
that dates back to
its early days as
part of the United
States. In August
1853, the Buffalo
Bayou, Brazos, and
Colorado Railway
(BBB&C), began
operating its first
twenty miles (32 km)
of a rail line that
stretched from
Harrisburg (now
Houston) to
Stafford's Point
(now Stafford). It
was the first
railroad to begin
operating in Texas,
and the first
standard gauge
railroad west of the
Mississippi River.
The railway
continued its
extension westward
until, in 1883, it
linked with its
eastward
counterpart,
completing the
Sunset Route from
Los Angeles to New
Orleans. Today, the
route of the
BBB&C (now owned
by the Union Pacific
Railroad) is still
an important and
heavily operated
railroad line.
In 1890, two real
estate investors
from Houston (R.M.
Cash and L.E.
Luckle) purchased
four square miles
of land directly
on the route of
the BBB&C,
only a mile and a
half from its
first stop at
Stafford's Point.
They advertised
the property as "a
land of genial
sunshine and
eternal summer" in
St. Louis,
Missouri, and its
surrounding areas.
Three years later,
W.R. McElroy
purchased 80 acres
(320,000 m2) in
the same vicinity,
and an effort to
promote the area
jointly with Cash
and Luckle in St.
Louis, he named it
"Missouri City".
Its first actual
settlers were from
Arlington, Texas,
near Dallas and
Fort Worth.
The settlement
was officially
registered in
Texas in 1894, and
began to take
shape as a
railroad town
along present-day
US 90A at Texas
Parkway, then
known as Main
Street and Blue
Ridge Road. Its
growth took an
unexpected turn
when, on February
14, 1895, shortly
after the first
group of settlers
had arrived, the
town was hit with
a blizzard. This
discouraged some
of the newcomers
who gave up and
moved elsewhere.
Those unwavering
stayed and found
success in farming
and ranching.
Among its first
businesses were a
blacksmith shop, a
depot, and a
general store,
which also housed
the first post
office. The first
Catholic church
was built in 1913,
but was destroyed
by a hurricane in
1915. The new
church built to
replace it stood
until 1990. Oil
was discovered in
nearby Blue Ridge
in 1919; soon
after, a salt mine
opened there.
Missouri City
became the
railroad shipping
point for these
two resources. In
1925, at the same
location, natural
gas was
discovered. After
a pipeline had
been constructed
the following
year, Missouri
City became the
first town in Fort
Bend County to
make use of
natural gas.
With the benefit
of a railroad,
Missouri City had
already been home
to commuters who,
by train, commuted
to adjacent towns
like Stafford's
Point and Sugar
Land to work. With
the increase of
automobiles and
improvement of
roads and highways
in the early part
of the 20th
century, the
developing
community
gradually
attracted a wealth
of newcomers. This
gave birth to a
new generation of
passengers
replacing railroad
passengers that
eventually became
obsolete. By the
1950s, the town
began to take
shape as a notable
"bedroom
community" suburb
of Houston.
After fear and
rumor spread of
possible
annexation of the
unincorporated
town by Houston,
town leaders
scrambled to piece
together a city
government. On
March 13, 1956,
the community that
began as a small
settlement more
than 55 years
earlier was
incorporated.
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