Elyson community name pays tribute to Katy history
At first, the name Elyson may seem unfamiliar to residents of the Katy area.
Dive a little deeper, and it becomes clear that the name is a meaningful tribute to the land that is now the 3,642-acre Elyson community, located at Grand Parkway and FM 529, eight miles north of the Katy Freeway.
Elyson is named after Ely Freeman, one of the original members of the Freeman family, who settled this land in 1898. That was two years after the town of Katy was laid out a few miles south, and the same year Katy High School was founded.
Like so many newcomers who continue to arrive in Texas, the Freemans left their family home in search of new opportunities.
Shortly after arriving from Centerville, Iowa, they built their first family home on the north side of where Freeman Road and Peek Road intersect today. Though most of Freeman Road is now called FM529, the section east of Grand Parkway retains the original Freeman family name.
Through six generations, the Freeman family prospered as they raised cattle and rice on the fertile Katy prairie. To this day, Ely Farms is an ongoing cattle enterprise in the Katy area, operated by members of the Freeman family.
This fall, the grand opening of Elyson will showcase a new community offering modern-day home buyers the opportunity to live amid more than 750 acres of parks, trails, waterways, recreational amenities and natural open space. Like the earliest settlers, residents will attend schools in the Katy Independent School District.
Elyson will offer new homes priced from the mid-$200,000s to $600,000s by Chesmar, Darling, David Weekley, Highland, Perry, Pulte, Trendmaker and Westin.
At www.Elyson.com, visitors can sign up to receive an invitation to the community’s special preview event in September.