Katy Texas is know as "The City of Churches"

Katy Texas has is a great place to live, work and play for so many reasons. You get a small town atmosphere and it's located only 28 miles due West of Houston Texas which offers everything and anything the mind can imagine. Katy is know as "The City of Churches", since it has so many. The slogan for Katy is "A Town With A Heart". For more information on it's history please visit, Historical Katy Texas, a look back in time, by Liz Carter local Realtor since 1976 or,The Prettiest "Old Church in Texas...First Baptist Church in Katy, Texas. Liz Carter, the Texas Real Estate groups contest

Nelson's Water Gardens in Katy Texas, a place you need to plan on spending the day, acres of complete water gardens on display. They sell everything to make your own, plus everything you need to go in it and around it + much more, like out door art. Of course you can get you Koi and Gold fish here too, and lady bugs.

Streets in Katy "Proper" are lined with flowers, trees, due to our warm year-round climate, it seldom gets cold in Katy Texas, so we can luckily grow just about anything, featured here are flowering Bradford Pear Trees. Of course March in Katy Texas is one of our most glorious months, due to the azalea are in full bloom and they are everywhere you eyes can see and come in pinks, purples, whites + they are a beautiful evergreen shrub too, so when not in bloom they stay bright green year round...but it's when they bloom they are show-stoppers! Shorts in December anyone? More to Katy, Texas.

Liz Carter & Team Realty (I'm in the middle) stopped in front of these magnificent white azaleas in full bloom for a photo to put in the paper for our award by the Houston Business Journal. I have ranked every year for the last 13 years that the HBJ has been tracking production of the top agents in the greater Houston MLS, which includes Katy, Sugar Land, and the surrounding areas. There are 27,000 Realtors in the Multiple Listing Service and I have placed in the top 25 every year for number of homes sold and total dollar value. When we saw these beauties after the awards breakfast it seemed the perfect photo op! The Azaleas bloom in March-April every year. They have an azalea trail that you can take a guided tour of some of the older more exclusive homes and marvel at the beauty of these flowers that are common to our area. It's worth a trip here during that time of the year, or better still just more here and you can enjoy our sub-tropic type weather year round. The humidity is good for your complexion too.

Since Texas is so large here is a map of the state of Texas to show you how close to the Gulf of Mexico we are.

Golf Courses are everywhere, and our mild weather allows you to play year round. Katy, and the greater Houston area are also very green. It's one of the first things I hear people comment on, "I never realized how green it is here. We also have so many parks, sports, and outdoor things to do.

Shop till you drop at Katy Mills Mall in Katy Texas. It has "Neighborhoods", that announce when you go in the doors which neighborhood you are in so you don't get lost. There is a stadium seating movie theater, a dance hall, and of course a Bass Pro Shop to die for Not to mention all the other outside the mall attractions, hotels, restaurants, and the area just keeps growing. If this is not enough, Houston is a short drive.

Katy, and the greater Houston area still have one of the lowest housing cost in the US at $200,000 average cost of a home. That is a very nice home in Katy. Typical construction is brick, and we have many master planned communities like the one on the right hand side and homes on acreage like the one I have for sale on the left hand side. Homes on acreage were you can bring you horses, and other like were the Liz Carter & Team are standing that have deed restrictions. I love living in Kat Texas and would like to share with you why so please call me at 281-391-7653 or visit my web site at www.lizcarter.com, and allow me to assist you with all the information you need if you are moving from around the world, or just live in he area and need a bigger or smaller home. I have lived here in Texas my whole life and been in Katy Texas since 1976. I truly am your area expert for the greater Houston, Katy, Sugar Land and surrounding areas. I offer FREE relocation packages and information, and would be happy to consult with you over the phone also. Let me leave you with one last picture on why I love Katy Texas, and I hope you enjoyed this brief photo tour. Liz Carter, owner/broker of Liz Carter & Team Realty, "Your Real Estate Resource For Life". For more photos of Katy, TX visit, Area Photos of Katy Texas, a town with a heart, by Liz Carter local Realtor since 1976 I'll leave you with a recent picture of Texas Wildflowers, all of our highways are planted in wildflowers, so diving in Texas in March-May is a real treat.

Blue Bonnets are the state flower of Texas

Welcome to my home, Katy, Texas!

What used to be a small rice growing community 28 miles west of the big city of Houston, Texas this town has boomed since I mored here in 1976! One of it's slogans is "A Town With A Heart. Katy has an interesting history that goes back to 1872, when families were draw to the area for it's rich farming land, and the fact that the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad was completed. This made it easy for people;e to get to the area, and also to get farm products to market. The land in Katy is rich and flat, making it prime farm land, and later prime rice fields. The prairie was thick with tall, flowing grasses and so tall a man on horseback could not be seen.

Historical Katy Texas, a look back in time, by Liz Carter local Realtor since 1976, to read more please refer to this post that gives lots of details about it rich history, and enjoy the photographs here. Photos all property of Liz Carter.

Since the land is so flat the sunsets seem to last forever, and are some of the most beautiful I've seen anywhere in the world!

Old rice dryers still stand, Blue Bonnets are state flower

Katy Schools are top-rated in the state & football is big!The Katy Tigers have won 5 state championships!

One of the main reasons people choose to live in Katy is for the academically acclaimed KISD top rated schools

Railroad Park features a railroad museum that features many original items like this old red cabosee

T

Well worth a visit to see all the old an old originaltelegraph machine, and a nice park to relax, it is located right on the original rail road tracks were people and rich made their way to the big cities of Texas. This is another shoot of the old rice dryers which right on the tracks to make loading and unloading easy. The tracks run exactly parallel to I-10 straight into Houston, 28 miles away, which I'm sure back then seemed a long way. Now we think nothing of driving in for dinner, plays, sports, etc.

State Historical marker showing the depot was in service from 1894-1957. Both the depot & steam engine train caboose have been restored to their original

Beofe the Inernet...things were a little slower :)

Town clock which was dedicated to the memory of "Dude" Callender, and old name in Katy Texas, and was designed by Rhett Butler, if you can believe that. I thought only the guy in Gone with the Wind, and my dog was named Rhett Butler :)., So here's a picture of my Rhett Butler, he is a resident of Katy, TX (pictured below)!

Picture of couple taking pictures in field of wild flowers on I-10 just west of Katy.

My Rhett Butler

Call Liz Carter, owner/broker of Liz Carter & Team Realty, serving and living in the Katy Texas area since 1976. Now helping second generations of clients.

Come let me show you why I love living, working and playing in Katy, Texas

Ricki Eichler and Ms. Judi Morgan brought the Texas Active Rain group together + one special surprise blogger who flew in all the way from Temecula Valley California just for the occasion. None other than Tom Plant aka the Active Rain Ambassador. Rickiand Judi put a ton of effort into planning this event in Bandera Texas and invited everyone to come and finally meet in person all of our friends we have come to know and love on Active Rain. My hat is off to you ladies, you did a great job, and all we had to do was show up! I had been having a hard time deciding if I wanted to make the drive of almost 5 hours each way to go, and I am so glad I did. Tom Plant had flown all the way from CA to be there, so I felt bad, for about two seconds since I was having so much fun. Everything was perfect from the mouth watering BBQ, glorious clear bright blue Texas skies, warm weather, games, to the spot they picked to host the party. The Pomarosa Park is nestled in the heart of the breathtaking Texas Hill Country. Bandera is located about 40 miles from San Antonio, and Ricki has the Pomarosa RV Park listed for sale.

What really made the day so special however was getting to talk to each other in person instead of on the computer. Putting voices to faces, and also meeting the spouses of our fellow bloggers who put up with all the time we spend on the computer with our "other life". They were all good sports, and we must have had 100 cameras going off all during the day. I staged one group shot where we were all pretending (some probably weren't) taking pictures of each other while the spouses took pictures of us.

Bandera is a Texans dream, and some of the party went into town for a tour, while some of us hung around the big park area playing with the geese, ducks, goats, tossing horse shoes, taking pictures, eating, but mostly just enjoying being with each other. I got to spend time with my friend, and partner of the Texas Real Estate group Marchel Peterson, and met her husband Gary. Carl Winters was there with his beautiful wife Ceil. Oh we even got the wedding plans stated for Tex and Miss Molly (Tex is the Texas Real Estate groups mascot, a handsome longhorn and Miss Molly is the pretty longhorn gal that Carl Winters found for him...I'll be writing a post about the wedding and yall are all invited to participate. Hey, don't laugh, not many people can claim they have been involved with a wedding for two longhorns :). Lots of nicknames came about, Ceil is now known as "BWP" (beautiful wedding planner), of course Ricki is now "Vanna," Tom is "Sneaky", and I'm sure that Deb Brooks has one for me after the kisses by "stinky breath" my poodle, Rhett Butler smothered her with kisses.

Of course Tom Plant doesn't know his new nickname yet, but he will soon I'm sure...it's hard to keep a secret around this bunch. Tom was the auctioneer for the pies, cakes, puddings, and cobblers that were brought to raise money for David Wilder's family. Which is how we ended our day? Now I caught the expression on his face, so he can't hide from this one. Ricki you're in on this deal too, my friend, you pretty laughing face is easy to spot too. What happened, I was kinda running around trying to keep up with who was the winning bid on which dessert and keep track of how much money we were collecting. So it gets down to no more stuff to auction off, so Sneaky and Vanna start auctioning off the half eaten deserts, well just as I was coming up to the table Tom has about ¼ of a Cherry Cobbler left over that Don Eichler had made, which I had commented on was my very favorite. I mean it was good, so Tom says "OK we have some left over Cherry Cobbler left Liz, so let's start the bid off at $50", while looking right at me! $50 for a left over Cherry Cobbler???? What could I do, I had to bid on it, and of course no one overbid me, darn! J. Not really, I was happy to take it. In fact, Don, I had it for breakfast, and it was just as good maybe better.

Here's a breakdown on the yummy desserts that got bought by our AR bloggers: Trey Thurmond got a Pecan Pie, I (Liz Carter) got a Coconut Pie, while my husband Bill Gronvold walked away with Ms. Judi Morgan's famous Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce + Chocolate Chip Cookies. Carl and Ceil (BWP) Winters got some left over Cheese Cake and something else...there was a lot going on, so I didn't get them all. Gary and Michel Peterson got the Chocolate Fudge, Tom got a Mystery Cake, Allen Kirkpatrick and his lovely wife Michele got an Apple Pie ++, Pam Crouch got another Apple Pie, Ms. Judigot a Chocolate Fudge Pie, and Jem Woods walked away with some Brownies. Gail Tassey and Edward Lui,I know got something good too, and I'm sure there is a lot I'm forgetting, but you get the idea. Marchel Peterson and Liz Carter created a lovely, handmade, unique flower arrangement and presented to to Ricki Eichler and Ms. Judi Morgan for all their efforts in putting this great party together. Please you don't have to thank us...it was the least we could do! (we had not brought anything, and should have thought about it so I clumbed some Texas designed napkins together that Ceil Winters had brought, we didn't even bring the napkins :), and pictured is Marchel presenting them to Ricki & Judi, while I take another photo :)

I can't tell you how glad I am that I went. It was so much fun to meet all the people I've been talking to for over a year, and come to know and care about in person. Everyone is exactly like them seem on active rain,genuine, warm, fun, caring, and just plain nice...well except for my new friend Tom was a little naughtyJ. We raised by my count, which I'm sure is low, $1,115 for Jason's good friend David Wilder's family. So it made it an even better "feel good day". After the auction Jason shared a few of his thought with us about David, who had lost his battle with cancer just a short while ago, as I'm sure most of you knew or read about here on the rain. Jason said he was grateful that at the end he and David got to tell each other how they really felt. David told Jason that he loved him, and Jason got to tell David that he was his hero. A good lesson for all of us, remember life is short and don't forget to tell your loved ones how you feel about them, and be thankful and grateful for every day, and every friend and family member in your life.

Active rain is a lot more to most of us than a place to express our thoughts, advertize our listings, and gain Internet exposure. It's also a place to make new friends, grow, learn, and have fun too. Hopefully our Texas group will have another get together, and I for one will plan on being there. Thanks again Ricki, and Ms. Judi for a truly wonderful day, I had a great time. Liz Carter

I will be putting a post on, but wanted you to meet the wedding planners we have so far, which I named above, and I will also put a few more pictures on here. I took 161 pictures so if you would like me to e-mail them to you in a group please let me know and I'll be happy to share, there are some great ones, and we did have so much fun, just not enough room or time. Here are our wedding planners. Tex & Miss Molly are getting married in June. They are the Texas Real Estate group's mascots...two longhorns, a true symbol of Texas. Gotta have fun while we're out here on the Internet, looking for buyers for our sellers. Active Rain is also a great source of getting referrals from all over the US, so its great meeting the agents you talk to on the computer and know they are going to give the clients you send them outstanding service with their Real Estate needs. Pictured below left to right is Carl Winters, Deb Brooks (also pictured on the right side holding Rhett Butler, Liz Carter's red poodle), Judi Morgan, Liz Carter, Ceil Winters, Marchel Pererson, and the hostess Ricki Eichler. The Wedding Planners :).

Jason Crouch is #1 to us :) :) :)

Edward Lui & daughter, Liz Carter Marchel Marchel Perterson & Liz Carter of Texas Real Estate group

Allen & Michele Kirkpatrick

Pam Crouch with homemade apple pie Judi Morgan & Tom Plant

YALL COME BACK NOW, YOU HEAR!!

You'll Love Katy, a Town with a Heart

When I first moved to Katy Texas in the late 70's there was not much outside what is called "Katy Proper", that is the area that lays within the city limits, the other part of Katy is actually large sections of Harris and Fort Bend unincorporated counties. Back then there was a much more distinct emphasis placed on Katy Proper vs. "the other people/areas" that lie outside the city limits. People were draw to Katy for its schools, the charm of a small town, and the developing West Houston's Energy Corridor making its way west on I-10 (aka Katy Freeway). The "Katy area" now comprises approximately 40,000 residents, with about 12,000 residing in Katy Proper. We all are part of the Katy Independent School District and nearly everyone in the area has a Katy postal address. KISD has around 55,000 students, 47 schools with six being high schools. I have experienced the enormous growth of the area since I opened one of the first Real Estate offices here in 1976. As a local Realtor it has been good for business but it came at a price. Back then there was hardly any traffic on Mason Rd. which was only two lanes and ended shortly south of I-10, no malls, no shopping centers, no restaurants, no grocery stores (outside Katy Proper or driving into Houston), no office buildings, no movie theaters, and hardly any noise outside the arrival of millions of migratory birds especially geese in the autumn. I have vivid memories of stunningly beautiful sunsets that seemed to last for hours. There was nothing to block the view, since the land is flat as a pancake and gives the illusion of endless horizons.

Thomas and Mary Robinson had 200 acres of land on the Cane Island branch of Buffalo Bayou (what Katy was called then), and had arrived in 1872. Around fifteen years later Peter Black and his wife Ophelia bought land and moved out from Addicks. These two families quietly farmed until 1895 when other fokes decided this was a good place to settle. The first settlers to Katy were Mr. William Pitt and his family who arrived on Christmas day in 1894. He came with his wife Lella and three children, moving here from the nearby town of Pattison, Texas. Many of our streets, schools, parks, etc. are named after those early settlers by the names of Peek, Stuart, Beckendorff, Cabiness, Thomas, Stockdick, Morton, Franz, and the Schilipf families to name a few of the very first. Mr. James Oliver Thomas had bought 320 acres of land and laid out the town site of Katy in 1895. In 1896 Katy was listed in Washington, D.C. as having a post office. It was then officially called Katy, Texas, with Mr. J.O. Thomas being the first postmaster. The post office was located in his general store. These families were drawn to the area for its farming land, and the fact that the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad was completed, so it was easy for people to get to the area, and also to get farm products to market. The land in Katy is rich and flat, making it prime farm land, and later prime rice fields. The prairie was thick with tall, flowing grasses and so tall a man on horseback could not be seen.

I've seen the change from just 32+ years of living and selling Real Estate in the Katy area, but its rich history goes far beyond that. Loving history and wishing I had been around in that era, its fun to read about it and see the pictures from "The Good Old Days", however growth happens things change, and for the most part in Katy we have seen a lot of good changes. There is still a small town feeling and atmosphere, certainly much more than the hustle and bustle of Houston, but within an easy, short commute for the sports, art, fine dining, world class shopping and all the things that come with being one of the largest cities in the US. In later years Katy became mostly a rice growing community. In downtown Katy the enormous rich storage tanks and dryers still remain, they line the no longer active rail road tracks that run parallel to I-10. Each October the big event is the Katy Rice Harvest Festival. It last for two days, with streets being blocked off so you can stroll through downtown Katy with miles of antiques, booths filled with handmade crafts, three stages with live entertainments, pageants, carnival rides, food booths serving corn on the cob, candied pecans, BBQ, cotton candy, and of course rice. Katy's slogan is "You'll Love Katy", and it's also known as "The City of Churches". I recently did a story on one of the first churches in Katy, now called First Baptist Church built November 20^th, 1898. One thing that has remained constant is we are still the site of one of the most incredible natural spectacles in North America, as thousands, then million, of migratory birds arrive on our Katy Prairie in autumn. This is just after the crops are in and the land lies fallow, the skies are a thrilling spectacle of waterfowl. Much has been done to conserve this area to keep our invaluable resource for the benefit of its wildlife of the winter home for some and the year round home of other birds. The sunsets are also still a marvelous event on the Katy Prairie.

You can't talk about Katy without mentioning football, and the Katy Tigers of Katy High School. The school had its first football team in 1939. Starting in 1959 Katy won its first state championship game, and the rest as they say is history. The Katy Tiger have won five state football titles, and the team has been particularly successful in recent years, winning championships again in 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2007 and we are consistently ranked in the top ten nationally. Under Coach Mike Johnston the Tigers beat powerhouse Southlake Carroll HS 16-15 in the 2003 5A Division 11 state final, giving Southlake its only loss in two years. The head coach now is Gary Joseph who was the former Katy defensive coordinator. You know when the Tigers are playing, because no one is anywhere in Katy, we are all at the game...GO TIGERS! We have an impressive new rodeo arena behind the high school. Academically Katy High was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1997-98. It you want to see high school football at its finest come to one of our games, and get ready to hear the crowds roarJ.

Katy being historically an agricultural area with rice the major crop is also one of the US's largest gas fields since the early forties. Katy Mills Mall and many major hospitals have opened in the area lately. Katy is also home to the Igloo Corp. and Academy Sports and Outdoors. The Katy area has been among the fastest growing in the nation in terms of both residential and business growth. The major development in housing features many upscale quality master planned communities as well as the established neighborhood. Among the newer neighborhoods is Cinco Ranch with around 8,000 residents. Cinco Ranch was a working ranch when the land was originally acquired by the development company American General in the late 80's. The ranch belonged to five brothers, hence the name Cinco, which translates in Spanish to five. The oil bust and recession shortly thereafter caused development of Cinco Ranch not to begin until the mid-late 1990's, hard to believe but oil went down to $10 a barrel during that downswing in the economy. Cinco Ranch has grown rapidly since and has its very own private real sand beach club/swim lagoon, a world class water park, stocked lakes with 11+ lb. bass, miles of hike, bike & nature trails, and much more. Other first class home communities also offer major amenities, Grand Lakes, Green Trails, Kelliwood, Lakes of Buckingham, the elegant Woodcreek Reserve, Remington Trails, Seven Meadows, Firethorn and many more. Houston and Katy Texas have one of the lowest housing costs in the US, with the average home price of only $206,000. Combine this with our mild tropical temperatures, lush green land, sports, arts, top rated schools, safety, security, parks, golf courses galore, accessible health care, shopping, close-knit small town atmosphere, and a large church community. It's no wonder we say, "You'll Love Katy".

Call me, and I'll share more of my Katy Texas with you, and why I Love Katy and have lived and sold Real Estate here since 1976. You can reach me at http://www.lizcarter.com/, or 281-391-SOLD (7653). Liz Carter & Team Realty, 21949-D Katy Frwy. Katy, Texas 77450. My office is easy to find, right on the corner of I-10 @ Mason Road. Come visit me and Katy Texas, you might just fall in love too. Liz Carter

For more information visit:

http://www.lizcarter.com/

www.katytexas.com

www.katychamber.com

www.katymagazine.com

www.wunderground.com/US/TX/Katy.html

www.fbckaty.com

http://www.cincoranchladiesclub.com/

http://www.cincoranch.com/

www.chron.com/neighborhoods/katy

www.katytexas.com/katyschools.cfm

www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/tx/3876

www.katyisd.org

I am pleased to introduce the Texas Real Estate groups' mascot, TEX to yall

It has been a fun, fast, learning, and growing time over at our group on Active Rain. Over the last month we have had a great contest to find the prettiest church in Texas, grown by 68 new members, and have been very prolific and creative group, by posting 742 impressive blogs about everything Texas. We also had a celebration to name our handsome longhorn mascot, complete with a Texas shaped cake. The name on his birth certificate is TEX, which is a very proper name for a longhorn. I would like to thank everyone at Texas Real Estate group for their contributions, especially the people who took the time to give us some breathtaking pictures and impressive history of churches in many areas of Texas. They are, Ricki Eichler, MAUREEN STACCATO , Loreena Yeo , BILL CHERRY, Carl Winters, Marchel Peterson , Liz Carter, Christina and Kevin Stevens, and Candy Henthorne.

I would especially like to thank Judi Morganfor all her support, and encouragement. Carl Winters for his tireless pursuit in getting everyone out to vote for our mascot (of course there was a hidden agenda there, and maybe a little arm twisting). Carl, I think your name is great, and you managed to get an overwhelming number of members of our group to vote for Tex, while my name of Molly only got one vote, mine! Thanks for making it so much fun. Of course I have to mention our transplant Texan member Dale Baker who took the time to bake this cake for Tex.

I would like to express my gratitude to our two judges who took loads of time and put a great deal of thought into selecting our winners of this month's contest, Judge Gena Riede , and Judge Lucky Lang . As they said, it was not an easy task, and everyone is to be applauded for their impressive posts.

The winners were from Judge Gena;

1^st Place

	Visit St Paul's Methodist Church, Houston TX Candy Henthorne

2^nd Place

"One" of the prettiest old churches in Texas
Ricki Eichler

3^rd Place Tie

The Historical Sacred Heart Church in Galveston, Texas. A true beauty of our time.
Christina and Kevin Stevens

And

Slaves Built and Paid for Their Own Churches - A Revolutionary Idea - Realtor Bill Cherry

Honorable mention to, (Please note Marchel and I removed ourselves from the contest for points or for 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd place, this was strictly from the judges' comments)

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church - at the Tomball Museum Center
Marchel Peterson

And

The Prettiest "Old Church in Texas...First Baptist Church in Katy, Texas. Liz Carter, the Texas Real Estate groups contest

The Winners were from Judge Lucky;

1^st Place

The Historical Sacred Heart Church in Galveston, Texas. A true beauty of our time.
Christina and Kevin Stevens

2nd Place

Visit St Paul's Methodist Church, Houston TX Candy Henthorne

3^rd Place

"One" of the prettiest old churches in Texas
Ricki Eichler

Best blog in contest

The Prettiest "Old Church in Texas...First Baptist Church in Katy, Texas. Liz Carter, the Texas Real Estate groups contest

I will be following this up with a special post on the contest complete with all the critiques of the judges, so please look for it on Texas Real Estate Group. I will also include some of the outstanding pictures of the winners and highlights of their post. In the meantime, please click on the above links and ENJOY! Liz

If you need to know anything about Texas, you now have a special place to come right here on Active Rain. Everyone in our group has been very rigorously adhering to the simple rule of our group; Write great things about our great state of Texas. Come on over, you will find some of the best written blogs in the rain on our group.

My co-moderator, friend and partner, Marchel Peterson is busy working on our April contest searching for "The Best Place In Texas To View Wildflowers", which promises to be another visual delight. If you have a client thinking or moving to Texas this is a great resource for you and them, which is what one of our goals is. Please visit, and take a look at some of the winner of the March contest...I promise you will not be disappointed.

Liz Carter, founder/moderator Texas Real Estate group on Active Rain

Katy, Texas

www.lizcarter.com