J Clark

Cinco Ranch History:

The Cinco Ranch community goes back to before Texas became a republic. In the 1820s, pioneer Moses Austin was granted by the Spanish government the authority to settle 300 families in the valleys of the Brazos and Colorado rivers. He died before he was able to accomplish this, but his son Stephen F. Austin was able to complete his father's wishes, even under the newly established Mexican government. One of the men who moved into these 300 slots of land (each one over 4000 acres (16 km?) was Randolph Foster, whose land spread across Fort Bend and Waller counties and upon which wild horses, deer, Indians and buffalo lived.

Foster’s daughter married Thomas Blakeley, cattleman and future sheriff of Fort Bend County. Their son, Bassett Blakeley, took after his father and grandfather and soon grew into a cowboy and cattleman. Bassett Blakeley owned 15,000 acres (61 km?) of land and 14,000 head of Brahman cattle, along with his grandfather's land. The cowhands of his Blakeley Ranch annually drove 10,000 head of cattle to the railheads in Kansas.

In 1937, Blakeley sold the working ranch to William Wheless, who convinced four of his friends, J.S. Abercrombie, W.B. Pryon, H.G. Nelms and L.M. Josey—all, like him, wealthy from oil—to become his partners at the ranch. In a nod to its Spanish roots perhaps, they called it Cinco Ranch (cinco means "five" in Spanish). Only the Wheless family lived on the ranch, but all of the families visited on many holidays and weekends, making use of a huge clubhouse complete with two bedroom wings. The ranch was not merely involved in cattle—it also had several acres of rice—for years, the main output of Katy, Texas—and peanut production.

In February 1984, the largest raw land transaction in the history of Houston took place when Cinco Ranch Venture, consisting of U. S. Home, the Mischer Corporation, and American General Corporation, purchased Cinco Ranch for a 5,000 acre (20 km?) master plan development. American General eventually bought out the other partners. Its current developer is Newland, and it now surpasses 7,200 acres (29 km?).

Sugar Land, Texas, Real Estate

City of Sugar Land

Nickname: The Land of Sugar

Sugar Land real estate is highly placed in the most desirable homes for sale in Houston. Sugar Land has many great neighborhoods and is still growing. Owning real estate in Sugar Land has many benefits.

There is great shopping, easy access to Houston via the Southwest Freeway and Katy by taking the Grand Parkway (Highway 99). Sugar Land is located near the Gulf Coast of Texas in the southwestern United States within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area.

Sugar Land is one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade. In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the city's population was 79,943.

Sugar Land was originally founded as a sugar plantation in the early mid 1800s and later incorporated in 1959. Sugar Land is the largest city and economic center of Fort Bend County. The city is the third-largest in population and second-largest in economic activities of the Houston area.

Sugar Land is home to the headquarters of Imperial Sugar and the company's main refinery and distribution center was once located in this city. As a nod to this heritage, the Imperial Sugar crown logo can be seen in the city seal and logo.

The city is also home to the headquarters of Western Airways and a major manufacturing facility for Nalco Chemical Company. In addition, Sugar Land has a large number of international energy, software, engineering, and product firms.

Sugar Land has the largest concentration of master-planned communities in Fort Bend County, which is home to the largest number of master-planned communities in the nation, including New Territory, Telfair, Chelsea Harbour, Riverstone and many others.

Sugar Land holds the title of "Fittest City in Texas" for the population range of 50,000–100,000 residents. Sugar Land has held this title for four consecutive years.

In 2006 CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Sugar Land third on its list of the 100 Best Cities to Live in the United States. In 2007, CQ Press ranked Sugar Land fifth on its list of Safest Cities in the United States (14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan American").

Information courtesy of TheBestofKaty.com

Katy Geography

Katy is located at 29°47?33?N, 95°49?21?W (29.792582, -95.822436)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.7 square miles (27.6 km?). None of the area is covered with water.

Katy Proper (City of Katy) vs. Katy Area

Katy residents often split the city into two informal sections: "Old Katy" (or Katy Proper) and "Katy Area". Old Katy is the actual city limits of Katy and lies mostly north of Interstate 10. This is the original Katy from before the 1970s when Houston's Energy Corridor (and the development that came with it) made its way west on I-10.

The "Katy area" is made up of large sections of unincorporated Harris and Fort Bend counties and mostly sits east and southeast of the city limits of Katy. This area is within the Katy Independent School District and nearly everyone in this area has a Katy postal address.
The Katy area includes new upscale developments and master planned communities such as Cinco Ranch, Wood Creek Reserve, Grayson Lakes, Seven Meadows, Firethorne and Grand Lakes, while also encompassing developments from the 1970s and 1980s such as Memorial Parkway, Kelliwood and Nottingham Country.

All of the "Katy area" lies in the city of Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), not Katy's ETJ. This means that the areas of "Katy area" are controlled by the city of Houston and the city has the ability to annex it in the future. The city of Katy cannot annex this area unless the city of Houston releases the area's ETJ to Katy, which has occurred in several small chunks in recent years. The most recent instance of this was in 2001 when Houston ceded about 400 acres (1.6 km?) of ETJ to the City of Katy to allow the Katy Mills Mall and surrounding parking lot to be built entirely within the City of Katy.

Katy Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,775 people in "Old Katy", 3,888 households, and 3,083 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,103.7 people per square mile (426.1/km?). There were 4,072 housing units at an average density of 381.7/sq mi (147.3/km?). The racial makeup of the city was 83.98% White, 4.24% African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 8.65% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.75% of the population. Also, there is a small Muslim community represented by the Katy Islamic Association. [1][2]
There were 3,888 households out of which 45.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.7% were non-families. 17.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.37.

In the city the population was spread out with 31.5% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $51,111, and the median income for a family was $57,741. Males had a median income of $38,412 versus $33,004 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,192. 8.4% of the population and 7.0% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 9.1% were under the age of 18 and 6.5% were 65 or older.

Katy Education

Katy Primary and secondary schools

Katy Public schools

Pupils who live in Katy are zoned to schools in Katy Independent School District.

Three elementary schools, all in the city of Katy, serve Katy residents:

• Zelma Hutsell Elementary School
• Katy Elementary School
• WoodCreek Elementary School

The following middle schools serve City of Katy residents:

• Katy Junior High School
• Beckendorff Junior High School (in unincorporated Fort Bend County)

All high school aged students in the City of Katy are zoned to Katy High School

Many homes in unincorporated Fort Bend, Harris, or Waller counties which have Katy addresses are served by other schools in Katy ISD.

Katy Colleges and Universities

Katy is served by the Houston Community College System.

Katy Public Libraries

Katy is served by the Katy Branch of Harris County Public Library.

Katy Sports

The Katy Ruff Riders of the Intense Football League play at the Katy ISD's Leonard E. Merrell Center.

The Katy Tigers of Katy High School have won 5 state football titles (1959, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007) and are widely supported by the local community.

Katy Transportation

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) operates the Kingsland Park and Ride east of Katy at 21669 Kingsland Boulevard.

Greyhound Bus Lines operates the Katy Station at Millers Exxon .

Katy Community Information

The Katy Family YMCA is located in nearby Cinco Ranch in unincorporated Fort Bend County. The YMCA was formerly named after Ken Lay, due to his having given an endowment of over $1 million. Soon after the Enron scandal began, the YMCA, since removing the name was undoable due to the financial help Lay provided, reduced the name, "Ken Lay" to approximately one-fourth the size it was before. In June 2006 Lay asked for his money to be returned in the wake of his legal trouble surrounding the Enron Scandal; consequently his name was removed and the YMCA was renamed the Katy Family YMCA.

Retail centers are springing up all throughout Katy to accommodate the rapid residential growth. The major retail growth is now being focused on the fast growing Katy Fort Bend Rd. near the east entrance to the Katy Mills shopping mall.

Postal service

The United States Postal Service operates the Katy Post Office at 5701 4th Street & the Katy Post Office Annex at 1331 Pin Oak Road, both of which are located in the City of Katy (Katy Proper).

List of mayors

• Dan Cox (1971-1979)
• John G. Morrison (1979-1983)
• Johnny Nelson (1983-1987)
• Ward A. Stanberry (1988-1991)
• J.W. "Skip" Conner (1991-1995)
• M.H. "Hank" Schmidt (1995-2001)
• Doyle G. Callender (2001-2007)
• Don Elder Jr. (2007-present)

Notable Katy Residents

This list includes people both from the City of Katy as well as the Greater Katy area:

• Renée Zellweger, Academy Award winning movie actress (Jerry Maguire, Bridget Jones's Diary among others)
• Renée O'Connor, TV actress (Xena: Warrior Princess)
• Clint Black, country music superstar in the 1990s
• Roger Clemens, baseball pitcher and seven time Cy Young Award winner. Lived in Katy for a short time.
• Frank Bielec, designer on TV show Trading Spaces
• Kimberly Caldwell, finalist on American Idol (Season 2)
• Janeane Garofalo, movie actress and radio host on Air America network in addition to stand up comic. Spent high school years in Katy.
• Pamela Ribon, author who spent high school years in Katy.
• Patrick Greenland, an actor on the TV series Cavemen
• Yao Ming, basketball superstar for the Houston Rockets. Has made the Katy area his home while in the United States, although he has an off-season home in Daly City, California.
• Eric Heitmann, football player for the San Francisco 49ers
• Jake Voskuhl, NBA center for the Charlotte Bobcats
• Katy Taylor, Olympian figure-skater
• Billy Bob Thornton, actor. Lived in Katy for a brief period.
• The members of the band King's X, who reside in Katy. Ty Tabor (member) has a studio in Katy.
• Shawn Daivari, Former WWE Wrestler who resides in Katy.

About Katy

The hugely popular Katy real estate market is one of the fastest growing real estate markets in the United States and owes it's growth and popularity to sitting in the direct path of Houston's massive western growth.

Katy is named for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, which was commonly refered to as the "K-T Railroad", shortened from Kansas to Texas Railroad. The "K-T Railroad", which is now part of Union Pacific, ran through Katy in the 18th century.

Katy was once known as Cane Island. The name is derived from Cane Island Creek which runs just west of downtown. Cane Island Creek is a branch of Buffalo Bayou. The origins of the name Cane Island are believed to be from the fact that Katy was once a major sugar cane producer and rice producer. It has a festival the second weekend in October to honor and recognize the former rice producing town.

Katy is no longer a small town if you get into the greater Katy area, but still retains a lot of the small town feel. Katy still has an actual downtown, with small shops and an old fashioned "Main Drag". You can still see some of the rice driers which are now serving as antique stores and such.

Katy is home to the Igloo Corporation, an internationally-known manufacturer of cooling and portable refrigeration products. Igloo Corporation consolidated all of their operations in Katy in 2003. Katy is also rapidly growing in the medical field with several top notch hospitals recently locating or buying land to expand there. There is plenty of shopping available in Katy with Katy Mills Mall and La Centera opening up in recent years as well as many other shopping areas along the Grand Parkway, Mason RD, Fry Rd and the Katy Frwy.