Katy Texas Awarded Train Town USA Designation
Two days ago I wrote a blog about the Train Collectors Association holding their annual toy train meeting right here in Katy Texas at the VFW Hall on Saturday (today) January 5, 2013. Trains and Katy have always gone together as on December 10, 2012 Katy was officially designated “Train Town USA “by Union Pacific Railroad and was done in coordination with Sesquicentennial ( 150 year anniversary- I had to look it up) Celebration.
One Hundred and Fifty years ago Union Pacific started building west of the Missouri River with an eventual destination being the Pacific Ocean. As we all remember from our history classes (LOL - remember??) this was a huge event for the US's growth as the railroad opened frontier western lands. Numerous immigrants and residents moved to assist with building the railroad and in the meantime a large number of towns sprung up instantly along the Union Pacific’s rail line.
Union Pacific was created back when President Abraham Lincoln (one of my personal favorite Presidents) signed the Railway Act of 1862. Where does Katy Texas fit into this picture? Katy started out as a stagecoach mail stop along the route from Houston to San Antonio Texas. Somewhere in the 1890’s the railroad arrived and we discussed here arrived in Katy and it became a town or city almost overnight. Folks had previously settled here to be along the stage coach route.
The Train Town designation is a special honor for the whole Historic Katy Texas City and all the surrounding unincorporated areas and neighborhoods. Congratulations to the City Council of katy and all the departments that worked so hard to assist with this honor and the special celebration that was held.
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