Settlers coming to the Katy area in the mid-1800s found a cane-filled creek on the vast coastal prairie. The area became known as Cane Island. When the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad laid tracks in the 1890s, a stop 30 miles west of Houston was needed to refill the water tanks on steam engines. Land agents were hired to find residents for a town, and in 1896, that town was named Katy. Early residents were farmers and ranchers, and businesses...