Rebuilding After the Great Storm of 1900

Growing together in Katy Texas

Chapter 1

From Cane Island to the Katy Railroad

Chapter 2

The golden age of rice and silos

Chapter 3

The modern master-planned boom

YOUR GOAL

Master of Growing together in Katy Texas

Ch 1 · From Cane Island to the Katy Railroad

007skaty Katy residents rebuild their town after the great storm

Shared survival in the face of ruin transforms a settlement into a community.

007skaty How a railroad nickname became a town

Rebuilding after the great storm of 1900

007skaty On September 8, 1900, the deadliest U.S. natural disaster destroyed Katy, leaving only six homes and forcing survivors

How a railroad nickname became a town

007skaty A dark neon infographic shows how the K-T railroad nickname became Katy

Cane Island Express

BETA

007skaty Steer the locomotive to discover how the railroad transformed Cane Island into modern Katy.

Fun Fact

Katy's name origin: The town name 'Katy' comes from the MKT railroad stock ticker symbol 'K-T', which was pronounced as 'Katy' by early railroad workers.

Glossary

railroad (noun)
A permanent road laid with rails on which locomotives and cars run. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas line reached Cane Island in 1895, prompting the community's renaming to Katy.

Gossip

Which historic era would you visit?

Quiz

What natural landmark along the creek did early travelers use to navigate through the Katy, Texas area in the mid-1800s?

Quiz

What geological feature beneath the Katy Prairie's topsoil traps water and makes it ideal for rice farming?

Quiz

Which railroad gave the town of Katy, Texas, its name in 1895?

Quiz

What was the original name of the settlement that eventually became Katy, Texas?

Quiz

In what year did the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad officially lay tracks and plat the town of Katy, Texas?

Quiz

What is the name of the historic creek that gave Cane Island its original name?

Quiz

How many homes in Katy, Texas, were left standing after the devastating Galveston Hurricane of 1900?

Quiz

Approximately how many residents lived in Katy, Texas, during the great hurricane of 1900?