Katy is named for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (commonly referred to as the "K-T Railroad", now a part of Union Pacific) that ran through Katy in the 19th century. Katy was once known as Cane Island. The name is derived from Cane Island Creek which runs just west of downtown. Cane 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. To commermorate the importance of rice to the Katy community, the Chamber of Commerce holds the Rice Harvest Festival every second weekend of October.
Katy was recently the location of one of the ten large red balloons in the DARPA Network Challenge on December 5, 2009. The balloon was stationed in Katy Park.