Photo by Missouri City, Texas by Roger F.Developers, natural gas bring early settlers
The story of Missouri City is one of dynamic growth in a short period of time. An area that very few people had inhabited historically became one of the largest suburbs of one of the largest cities in the country.
"A sleepy community with close-knit families and relationships exploded at the beginning of the 1960s into Suburbia, U.S.A.," said historian Roger F. Carter in Missouri City, Texas. "Missouri City moved from a town of 3,000 inhabitants to one of more than 30,000 in less than 20 years."
For centuries, the area around Missouri City was almost completely uninhabited. Local Native American tribes like the Karankawa were nomadic and tended to move along the coast where they could find oysters, crabs and fish. The first Spanish missionaries to the region in the 18th century simply passed by, establishing their missions further north and east.
Early settlers found that the prairie was good for cattle ranching and cotton farming. A railroad was built through what is now the northern part of Missouri City in 1853, but trains would merely pass by until the first depot was built in 1902.
