A Little About Missouri City, TX

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 20 miles (32 km) of 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

In 1890, two real estate investors from Houston (R.M. Cash and L.E. Luckle) purchased 4 sq mi (10 km²) 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 (32 ha) in the same vicinity, and in an effort to promote the area jointly with Cash and Luckle in St. Louis, he named it “Missouri City”. Its first settlers were, however, from Arlington, Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth.

The settlement was officially registered in Texas in 1894, and began to take shape as a railroad town along Main Street and Blue Ridge Road, now known as US 90A and Texas Parkway, respectively. 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 unwavered 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 at Blue Ridge 4 mi (6 km) southeast of town 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.^{[citation needed]}