Missouri City, Texas

Everything Missouri City is known for

12 songs mention this city 5 artists from here

Missouri City, Texas, a suburban community southwest of Houston, has a notable connection to the music world. This Texas city is home to several hip-hop artists, including Travis Scott and Z-Ro. The city is also mentioned in songs like "The Mo City Don" by Z-Ro and "Basement Freestyle" by Travis Scott, highlighting its presence in contemporary music.

Music in Missouri City

Songs About Missouri City

The Mo City Don
Z-Ro
90%
"K-I-N-G, the Mo City Don"
No Games
Z-Ro
60%
"I'm from Missouri City Texas, Ridgemont to be exact"
Cruisin' Ridgemont
Z-Ro
55%
Sienna Life
Futurebirds
45%
"Sienna Life"
Soufside Can’t Stop
Z-Ro
24%
"Mo City Texas that's my home, but I can roam all over"
Basement Freestyle
Travis Scott
23%
"In MO city, they know the gang"
City of Syrup
Big Moe
23%
"Bone hard, Ridgemont, Mo City, Texan"
Love Galore
SZA
20%
"that's that Mo City, that side that you can't come 'round at night, yeah"
WHERE WAS YOU
Travis Scott
5%
"Where was you when we was in the Mo and we had no more?"
Mo City Flexologist
Travis Scott
5%
"Mo City Flexologist"
Grey
Travis Scott
5%
"Another lost kid, Mo City soul"
Company
Drake
2%
"Mo City trip, Mo City trip right now"

Artists From Missouri City

T
Travis Scott
hip-hop Pop: 90
F
FOE G4NG
hip-hop Pop: 40
Z
Z-Ro
hip-hop Pop: 30
E
El Trainn
hip-hop Pop: 23
T
TisaKorean
hip-hop Pop: 15

Rivers & Roads in Song near Missouri City

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Missouri City.

U.S. Route 59 7 songs Brazos River 37 songs Interstate 10 32 songs US Route 90 8 songs Interstate 45 7 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs

Musical Heritage

Z-Ro and the Birth of 'Mo City' RoadyGoat

If you've ever heard Missouri City called Mo City, you can thank Houston hip-hop, and one rapper in particular. Z-Ro grew up in Missouri City's Ridgemont area and became known across Southern rap as the Mo City Don. His long, much-quoted Mo City Don Freestyle turned the city's casual nickname into one of the most recognizable shorthand names in Houston rap culture, broadcasting Missouri City far beyond Fort Bend County to listeners who never set foot here. It's a fitting bit of wordplay for a town whose official nickname is the Show Me City, a civic pun on Missouri's Show-Me State, while Mo City became the version that actually stuck in everyday speech and on records. Missouri City didn't earn its national cultural identity from movie sets or tourist attractions. It earned it from the rappers who came up in these neighborhoods and carried the name with them, and Z-Ro, claiming Ridgemont and crowning himself the Mo City Don, is the reason a Houston-area suburb has a hip-hop alias at all. (Source: Houston rap histories.)

History of Missouri City

A Town Invented to Sell Texas Land to Missourians RoadyGoat

The flat railroad country you're crossing was, in a sense, an advertising campaign. In the 1890s real-estate promoter W.R. McElroy bought roughly 80 acres near the rail line and, working with Houston developers R.M. Cash and L.E. Luckle, marketed lots to buyers around St. Louis. He named the proposed settlement Missouri City specifically to make a Texas venture sound familiar to Missourians. The pitch worked better than the place did. The first families reportedly arrived not from Missouri but from Arlington, Texas, and the community stayed tiny for decades, its first business a blacksmith shop, with a post office in 1897 and a railroad depot in 1902. Then came an almost comic setback: the great Gulf Coast snowstorm of February 1895 buried the region under record snow, around 20 inches in the Houston area, and city histories say the shock of it helped persuade some newly arrived Northerners to pack up and leave. The town named to lure people fleeing Midwestern winters greeted them with one of the least Texas-like winters imaginable. (Source: Handbook of Texas; National Weather Service.)

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DeWalt: The Community Absorbed by the Suburbs RoadyGoat

Before Missouri City sprawled south, DeWalt was a separate rural community out near present-day Highway 6 and FM 1092. It grew up around the 1850s plantation of Thomas Waters DeWalt, and after emancipation portions of the estate were divided and a predominantly Black settlement took shape there, built around farms, churches, a post office, stores, and a sugar mill. The Sugar Land Railroad reached DeWalt in 1912, hauling sugarcane and farm freight to the Imperial Sugar system, but the line was abandoned in the 1950s and suburban expansion slowly swallowed the community. One of its last physical reminders is the Hugh Sanders–Dew House, built around 1900. When development threatened it with demolition, preservationists saved the structure and moved it roughly three miles in 2006; it now serves as the DeWalt Heritage Center in Kitty Hollow Park. The community didn't vanish all at once. Its railroad disappeared, its land was developed, and its last major house had to be physically carried three miles to safety, so that the history beneath all the Highway 6 retail wouldn't be erased completely. (Source: Handbook of Texas; City of Missouri City.)

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The Invisible Salt Mountain Beneath Blue Ridge RoadyGoat

Southeast of central Missouri City, under the Blue Ridge area, sits a buried mountain you will never see: a salt dome whose top is roughly 700 feet below the surface. The salt stays hidden, but the industry it created is right out in the open. Oil was discovered at Blue Ridge in 1919, followed by salt extraction and natural-gas production, and the little railroad settlement of Missouri City became the shipping point for the field and mine. In 1926 it became the first community in Fort Bend County reported to use natural gas, a milestone for a place usually remembered as a sleepy depot stop. That industrial chapter is the reason Missouri City survived its lean early decades at all. Behind the suburban image is a town that lived on salt, oil, gas, and the freight trains that hauled them. The mine and the industrial parcels around Blue Ridge Road and Highway 6 are private property, so this is strictly a drive-by: flat prairie on the surface, a geological giant underneath. (Source: Handbook of Texas.)

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Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado, First Railroad in Texas

1840

Planned 1840 to benefit the Republic of Texas by moving rich sugar and cotton crops from plantation areas. Chartered 1841 by 5th Congress of the Republic, in name of Harrisburg Railroad & Trading Company. H. R. & T. C. did not succeed in building a railroad. Its holdings were transferred in 1847 to Gen. Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, who was backed by eastern capital and leading texans -- W. J. Hutchins, gen. Hugh McLeod, Wm. Marsh Rice (benefactor of Rice University), B. A. Shepherd, James H. Stevens, and John Grant Tod (a former Texas naval officer). B. F. Terry (destined to lead Terry's Texas Rangers in the Civil War) and W. J. Kyle graded the roadbed. The first locomotive, "General Sherman," arrived 1852. In August 1853 the tracks extended 20 miles from Harrisburg to Stafford's Point, early Texas center of trade and social life. On Sept. 1, with fanfare, a special train brought a load of honored guests to join planters here for a barbecue-jubilee. Regular schedules were soon in operation. Stafford's Point, end of the line for two years, did much business. Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado in 1860 reached Alleyton -- a distance of 80 miles from Harrisburg. Incise in base: Early Travel, Transportation and Communication Series erected by the Moody Foundation.

Historical Marker →

Stafford Municipal School District

1830

The city of Stafford, or Stafford’s point, was settled by William Stafford in the early 1820s. The settlers organized a place for their children to go to school, and by the 1830s, a one-room school was available with ten students attending. Later, classes were held in the local blacksmith shop. In 1895, the first official school was built on Louisiana Street in Missouri City with seven grades and one teacher. Students from Stafford, Missouri City and surrounding areas attended the Missouri City School District which was formally organized in 1938. In 1959, the Missouri City School District and Sugar Land School District consolidated to form the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD). In 1976, a FBISD decision to reduce bus transportation for schoolchildren prompted the Stafford City Council to consider separating from the district to create a municipal school district, an extremely rare occurrence. As required, Stafford citizens presented a petition to the mayor and City Council calling for an election to form a municipal school district. The election was held, and the vote was approved on January 15, 1977. The State of Texas Commissioner of Education investigated and upheld the vote. FBISD appealed the decision to the Federal District Court where a judge ruled in favor of FBISD. On July 30, 1981, the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals in New Orleans ruled that Stafford Municipal School District (SMSD) was constitutional. Work quickly began to establish an exceptional educational environment for Stafford. on August 26, 1982, SMSD started grades kindergarten through 5th and the next year added 6th through 11th grades. SMSD had its first graduating class in May 1985.

Historical Marker →

Dyer House, Old, 1890

1890

Victorian home, of heart pine and cypress, built with square nails. Erected in Richmond, texas. J. t. Dyer, builder, had crew desert him during murders in Jaybird-Woodpecker feud, a war for political rights. Moved to present site, 1963. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966

Historical Marker →

Roark, Leo A. Elijah

1825

Leo Roark, soldier, the son of Cynthia (Fisher) and Elijah Andrew Roark , was born in Missouri on January 9, 1813. The family trekked from Illinois in 1824 and settled at Stafford's Point (now Stafford) in Fort Bend County, Texas, where in January 1825 Roark received title to one-third league. He attended David Henson's school with his younger brother, Andrew Jackson Roark , and with Dilue Rose Harris . Roark was conversant with the Spanish language and occasionally served as a translator for his neighbors and Mexican officials. On December 24, 1829, he survived the Indian fight near San Antonio in which his father was killed. He served in the Texas army at the siege of Bexar , the Grass Fight , and the battle of Concepción . Illness sent him home from San Antonio before Antonio López de Santa Anna 's siege of the Alamo. Roark is said to have fought at the battle of San Jacinto , but his name appears on none of the surviving muster rolls. In 1837 he and John W. Moore were named administrators of his mother's estate. Roark married Mary Martha Pevehouse, a native of Lawrence County, Arkansas, and a daughter of Jacob Pevehouse, on May 14, 1838, and in June 1838 he received title to an additional two-thirds plus a labor in Fort Bend County. According to Dilue Harris he was "the father of a large family." Mrs. Roark died in Fort Bend County about 1852, and Roark died in Jack County on October 31, 1892.

Tsha Handbook →

Shaw, Robert

1908

Robert Shaw, blues pianist, was born on August 9, 1908, in Stafford, Texas, the son of Jesse and Hettie Shaw. His parents owned a 200-acre farm. The Shaws had a Steinway grand piano and provided music lessons for his sisters, but Shaw was not permitted to take piano lessons because his father was opposed to the idea. Years later he told an interviewer that he would "crawl under the house" to catch the musical strains coming from one of his sisters' piano lessons. Shaw obeyed his father and worked alongside him in the family's cattle and hog business. He played piano when the rest of the family was away from home and practiced the songs he heard on errands into town. Reportedly, the first song he learned was "Aggravatin' Papa Don't You Try to Two-Time Me." By the time he was a teenager, Shaw would slip away to hear jazz musicians in Houston and at the roadhouses in the nearby countryside. As soon as he was able, he sought out a piano teacher to take lessons and paid for them from his own earnings. In time, despite his father's opposition, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz musician. In addition to ragtime elements such as syncopation, the "barrelhouse" piano style that Shaw played employs a heavy, hard-hitting touch with fast release. The style was named for the barrelhouses, where it was performed-sheds with walls lined with beer and whiskey, an open floor, and a piano on a raised platform in a corner of the room. The back of the barrelhouse was also used as a bawdy house. Shaw learned his distinct brand of piano playing from other musicians in the Fourth Ward, Houston , the center of black entertainment in the city. Clubs there hosted such important blues stylists as Sam (Lightnin') Hopkins . Famous dance bands of the era also appeared at the El Dorado and the Emancipation Park Dance Pavilion, two of the best dance halls in the Fourth Ward. In the 1920s Shaw became part of an itinerant band loosely referred to as the "Santa Fe Circuit" because the musicians hopped aboard Santa Fe freight trains to do their tours. Shaw played as far north as Chicago, but he mostly confined himself to Texas. He appeared as a soloist in the clubs and roadhouses of such Southeast Texas towns as Sugar Land and Richmond, the South Texas town of Kingsville during the cotton harvest, and the big cities of Houston and Dallas. When the Kilgore oil boom occurred in 1930, Shaw went there to play, and in 1932 he headed to Kansas City, Kansas, to perform at the Black Orange Cafe. In 1933 he had a radio show in Oklahoma City before returning to Texas, first to Fort Worth and then to Austin, where he took up permanent residence and opened a barbecue business. He later owned and operated a grocery store called the Stop and Swat in the predominantly black east side. Shaw met Martha Landrum in Austin in 1936, and they married on December 22, 1939. They had no children. He had previously been married to a woman named Blanche, with whom he had a daughter, Verna Mae, and a son, William. For several decades after his marriage, Shaw ran his business in partnership with Martha. He was named the black businessman of the year in Austin in 1962. He also continued to play his music privately and for people who dropped by the Stop and Swat. In 1967, seven years before his retirement from the grocery business, he returned to public musical performance, this time with a younger generation of followers and growing fame. With the revival of his career, as one of the few remaining "virtuoso" barrelhouse blues pianists of his period, Shaw played often in Austin and at the Kerrville Folk Festival . Over the following years he also performed in Amsterdam, in Frankfurt, and at the Berlin Jazz Festival. In addition he played at the Smithsonian Institute's American Folk Life Festival, the World's Fair Expo in Canada, the Border Folk Festival in El Paso, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Shaw also made at least one album, called Texas Barrelhouse Piano ,

Tsha Handbook →

Stafford, TX

1830

Stafford is on Farm Road 1092 and the boundary between Fort Bend and Harris counties, just east of the junction of U.S. highways 90A and 59. In 1830 William Stafford installed a cane mill and opened a horse-powered cotton gin, reported to have been the first in Stephen F. Austin 's colony. Antonio López de Santa Anna and a detachment of his army halted at Stafford's plantation on April 15, 1836, during the march to Harrisburg. The famished Mexican troops feasted on Stafford's corn, sheep, and hogs. Before they departed Santa Anna ordered the plantation's buildings burned. After the Texas Revolution Stafford rebuilt the plantation and lived there until his death in 1840. Paschal Pavolo Borden was a resident of the settlement called Stafford Point that grew up around the plantation, but no genuine townsite developed until August 1853, when it became a stop on the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway. The event was celebrated by a barbecue at which Francis Richard Lubbock was one of the many speakers. The Galveston News reported in September 1853 that the train would run between Harrisburg and Stafford's Point each Wednesday and Saturday; on August 11, 1855, the Texas Sun reported a daily run between Harrisburg and Stafford Point. By December 1855 the line had been extended to Richmond, which replaced Stafford as the terminus. The evolution of the community's various names may be traced through its post offices. Stafford's Point had a post office from 1854 to 1869. Staffordville had a short-lived post office from January 5 until February 26, 1869. Thereafter, the settlement, now known as Stafford, maintained a post office from 1869 to 1918; the facility reopened in 1929 and has remained in continuous operation under that name. In 1884 Stafford had two general stores, one grocer, and a population of fifty; by 1896 it had a corn mill and gin, a physician, two grocers, two general stores, a hotel, a lawyer, a livestock raiser, a saloon, and a population of 300. By 1914 the population had dropped to 100 and the businesses to a general store, a blacksmith, and a telephone connection. In 1931 an estimated 320 residents and eight businesses were registered. In 1946 the population had risen to 400 and the businesses to nine. Stafford incorporated in 1956. By 1961 the town had a population of 1,485 and twenty-two businesses. It had 5,582 residents and 197 businesses by 1980 and 8,397 inhabitants in 1990. Stafford schools were a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District until 1977. That year residents voted to form the Stafford Municipal School District, the only municipal school district in the state. Efforts were made to block this action, but in 1981, following several rounds of federal litigation, the courts declared the Stafford Municipal School District to be constitutional. The rapid growth of Stafford since the 1960s may be partly attributed to expansion in Houston. By the 1980s the town was a suburb, and many Stafford residents commuted to jobs in the city. In 2000 the community had 1,923 businesses and 15,681 inhabitants.

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Things to Do in Missouri City

food 15.1 mi away
The Original Ninfa's on Navigation

Ninfa Laurenzo was a widow with five kids when she opened a little restaurant in her late husbands failing tortilla factory on Navigation Boulevard in 1973.…
food 16.0 mi away
Killen's Barbecue

Chef Ronnie Killen's Pearland powerhouse. A classically trained chef who chose brisket over fine dining. The beef rib is absurd.
historical 8.9 mi away
The Astrodome

The Astrodome opened in 1965 as the worlds first fully enclosed air-conditioned stadium -- the Eighth Wonder of the World the Houston papers called it. Judge…
quirky 9.3 mi away
Eclectic Menagerie Park

An outdoor display of giant welded-metal sculptures along the edge of the Texas Pipe and Supply pipe yard including a King Kong hanging from a crane a 20-foot…
historical 11.7 mi away
The Menil Collection

World-class art museum that's completely free. Rothko Chapel next door.
quirky 12.2 mi away
Beer Can House

A house covered in 50000 flattened beer cans. 18 years of drinking and decorating.
quirky 13.8 mi away
Trio of Jumping Cows

A trio of multicolored fiberglass steers mounted to look like they are leaping skyward and salvaged from the 2001 CowParade Houston charity event now rises…
quirky 16.0 mi away
Virgin Mary Oak Tree

An oak tree in the Garden Oaks neighborhood where passersby report seeing the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the bark and leave flowers and religious…

Sports in Missouri City

⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 5A · Football

Thurgood Marshall — Thurgood Marshall — a college & pro athletic pipeline

11 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

Thurgood Marshall High School in Missouri City, TX, has a proud tradition of developing athletes who have gone on to compete at the highest levels. The Class 5A school has seen several of its alumni make their mark in major college and professional sports. Among them is Aubrey Coleman, a former professional basketball player, showcasing the diverse athletic talent fostered at Marshall.

The football program, in particular, has produced a number of NFL players. Stephen Williams, a former NFL wide receiver, and Valentino Blake, a former NFL cornerback, are notable examples. More recently, Knile Davis and DeAndré Washington, both former NFL running backs, have represented the Buffalos. Kendall Sheffield is an NFL cornerback, while Dalevon Campbell is an NFL wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers, and De'Von Achane is an NFL running back for the Miami Dolphins.

Pro/D1 alumni
11
Class
5A
Founded
2002
Key Players
  • Aubrey Coleman — (2005), former professional basketball player
  • Stephen Williams — (2005), former NFL wide receiver
  • Valentino Blake — (2008), former NFL cornerback
  • Knile Davis — (2009), former NFL running back
  • DeAndré Washington — (2011), former NFL running back
  • Kendall Sheffield — (2015), NFL cornerback
The moment

De'Von Achane is an NFL running back for the Miami Dolphins.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives
⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 6A · Football

Ridge Point Panthers — Ridge Point — a college & pro athletic pipeline

3 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

Ridge Point High School in Missouri City has a proud tradition of developing athletes who excel beyond high school. The Panthers have seen several of their own go on to achieve significant success in major college and professional sports. These alumni represent the dedication and talent fostered within the school's athletic programs, providing inspiration for current and future generations of Ridge Point athletes.

The list of notable Ridge Point alumni includes Ashton Bethel-Roman, who is a college football wide receiver, and Adonai Mitchell, an NFL wide receiver. Additionally, Bryce Deadmon has made his mark as a track and field Olympian. These individuals demonstrate the range of athletic excellence cultivated at Ridge Point High School.

Pro/D1 alumni
3
Class
6A
Founded
2010
Key Players
  • Ashton Bethel-Roman — (2024) - college football wide receiver
  • Bryce Deadmon — (2015) - track and field Olympian
  • Adonai Mitchell — NFL wide receiver
The moment

Bryce Deadmon is a track and field Olympian.

Sources: Wikipedia · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Missouri City

1919 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Missouri City on the Map
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