[7] Among Melissa's earliest inhabitants were Paleo-Indians; archaeological finds in the area have been dated to approximately 9500 BC.

[8] In the centuries since, several Native American tribes called the area home, including the Caddo, Cherokee, Delaware, and the Kickapoo.

[9] These people were focused primarily on agriculture and a hunting-and-gathering lifestyle, living peacefully from the land's bounty.

[9] Initially settlers came from the old Highland community, two and a half miles north of present-day Melissa.

The Houston and Texas Central Railroad arrived in Melissa in 1872 and established a depot.

The first school in Melissa was built on land purchased in 1882 by trustees James Graves, John Gibson, and George Fitzhugh (son of William F. Fitzhugh), who were early settlers of the area.

A two-story brick schoolhouse was built on this site in 1910 to accommodate growth brought by the railroad.

A deadly F4 tornado struck Melissa on April 13, 1921, killing 13 people and injuring many more.

The tornado tore the roof off of the brick school building, but the children inside were not seriously injured.

However, all churches in the town, three cotton gins, every business house except a bank, the post office, and the Houston and Texas Central railway station, were wrecked.

The Waldon Hotel was lifted by the winds, turned halfway around, and thrown up against the school building.

[6] [10] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 13,901 people, 3,058 households, and 2,824 families residing in the city.