Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the HoustonThe WoodlandsSugar Land metropolitan area.

The city is
located in Harris, Fort Bend, and Waller counties. The population was 14,102 at the 2010 census,[1] up from 11,775 at
the 2000 census. The population was estimated to be 16,158 in 2015.[5]

Contents
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1History

2Economy

3Geography

4Climate

5Demographics

6Government and infrastructure

7Education

o 7.1Primary and secondary schools

o 7.2Colleges

o 7.3Public libraries

8Parks and recreation

9Transportation

o 9.1Mass transit

o 9.2Intercity buses

o 9.3Airports

10List of mayors

11Notable people

12See also

13References

14External links

History[edit]
Dr. James M. and Dove Stewart House, on the National Register of Historic Places

In the mid-1800s Katy was known as "Cane Island", named for the creek that runs through the area, a branch of Buffalo
Bayou. The creek was filled with cane, presumed to have been planted by earlier residents to aid in fur trapping. In the
middle of the flat coastal prairie, this "island" of cane was surrounded by an ocean of tall grass; thus the area became
known as "Cane Island". The trail from Harrisburg to San Antonio, known as the San Felipe Road, ran right through it.
In 1845 James J. Crawford received a land grant that included this area. The hot summers, cold winters, thick mud and
voracious mosquitoes made it difficult to attract settlers to the area. Thirty years later Crawford, John Sills,
and freedmen Thomas and Mary Robinson were the only recorded residents of Cane Island. In 1893 the Missouri
KansasTexas Railroad (now a part of Union Pacific) started laying rails through Cane Island. The railroad began
operation in 1895.
That same year James Oliver Thomas laid out a town, and in January 1896 the town of Katy was named through
Thomas's post office application. The name was based on the MKT Railroad (which was called "the Katy" by railroad
officials) and the anticipations of prosperity its arrival would bring to the new town. The town developed around the
original train stop and railroad tracks.
By the early 1900s many families had come by train and wagon to establish Katy. Several hotels, stores, liveries and
saloons were prospering, and farms and ranches were being developed on the wild prairie. Cotton and peanuts were
the first successful crops, but rice soon became the primary commodity crop. Katy later became known for rice farming;
the first concrete rice driers in the state of Texas were built here in 1944 and still stand as landmarks.
In 1945 the city of Katy was incorporated as a municipality. Boundaries were determined by finding the area that
contained the most residents and was reasonably sized so that it could be managed by city services. The city of Katy is
now the anchor for the greater Katy area, defined by the boundaries of the 181 sq mi (470 km2) Katy Independent
School District.
The construction and opening of Interstate 10 in 1966 allowed for rapid development of the area, as Houston expanded
westward. The city has grown to a population of approximately 16,000 residents. Almost 270,000 people live in the Katy
area, which has won national accolades for growth and sustainability.[6]
In 2009 the Gadberry Group named Katy as one of "9 from 2009" most notable high-growth areas in the United States. [7]

Economy[edit]

Katy Mills Mall, Texas

Several corporations are headquartered in areas surrounding Katy.

Igloo Corporation is headquartered west of Katy in unincorporated Waller County.[8] Academy Sports and Outdoors has
its corporate offices and product distribution center in unincorporated western Harris County.[9]
BP America is headquartered in the Houston Energy Corridor and is the area's largest employer, with 5,500 employees
on its Westlake campus as of 2009. BP's Katy operations include engineering and business support for much of BP's
onshore operations in the contiguous United States, as well as its operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
With the economy improving after 2009, retail centers were developed throughout Katy to accommodate the rapid
residential growth. The major retail growth is taking place along Katy Fort Bend Road near the east entrance to the Katy
Mills shopping mall.[citation needed] In August 2010, H-E-B Food & Drug opened a new UP format store at I-10 and Pin Oak. In
July 2013, Costco announced that it would open a store at the southwest corner of Grand Parkway and I-10 in 2014.
Construction began in August 2013. The new store was planned for completion by early spring 2014 and would be
Costco's fourth Houston-area location.[10][11]
The Katy Area Economic Development Council serves as the economic development organization for the area.
Founded in 2003, the Katy Area Economic Development Councils (Katy Area EDC) mission is to establish the Katy
area as the premier location for families and businesses through planned economic growth and economic development.
Since its inception, the Katy Area EDC has grown to over 210 members, has a budget of $900,000 and has assisted in
the creation of over 16,200 jobs and more than $2.5 billion in capital investment. Katy Area EDC is a full-service private,
non-profit, 501 (c) 6 economic development corporation.
Geography[edit]

Map of Katy

The city of Katy is located at the three-border intersection of Harris, Fort Bend, and Waller counties, along Interstate 10,
29 miles (47 km) west of downtown Houston and 22 miles (35 km) east of Sealy. According to the United States Census
Bureau, the city of Katy has a total area of 11.3 square miles (29.3 km2), of which 11.2 square miles (29.1 km2) is land
and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2), or 0.38%, is water.[1]
Katy is often further defined as either "old Katy" or "the Katy area". [citation needed] "Old Katy" refers to the city of Katy, which
was incorporated in 1945 and is located near the western edge of the greater Katy area. The "Katy area" includes the
city of Katy plus large sections of unincorporated land surrounding the city corresponding to the boundaries of the
181 sq mi (470 km2) Katy Independent School District. The "All Aboard Katy!" public art project and the Katy Area
Economic Development Council's "Energy Grows Here" branding initiative are large-scale projects launched to help
promote, identify and unite the Katy area.
Greater Katy includes new upscale developments and master-planned communities such as Cinco Ranch, Green Trails,
Pin Oak Village, Grayson Lakes, Seven Meadows, and the new Pine Mill Ranch, Silver Ranch, Firethorne, Grand
Lakes and Cane Island. It also encompasses suburban developments from the 1970s and 1980s, such as Memorial
Parkway, Kelliwood and Nottingham Country.
The city of Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) stretches well west of Katy. This means that most of the
unincorporated lands in the Katy area may be annex