Spring, Texas, United States

🇺🇸 Spring is a place (CDP) within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The population was 62,559 at the 2020 census. While the name "Spring" is popularly applied to a large area of northern Harris County and a smaller area of southern Montgomery County, the original town of Spring, now known as Old Town Spring, is located at the intersection of Spring-Cypress and Hardy roads and encompasses a relatively small area of perhaps 1 square kilometer (0.39 sq mi).

History The large geographic area now known as Spring was originally inhabited by the Orcoquiza Native Americans. In 1836, the Texas General Council of the Provisional Government placed what is now the town of Spring in the Harrisburg municipality. In 1838, William Pierpont placed a trading post on Spring Creek. In 1840, the town of Spring had 153 residents. By the mid-1840s, many German immigrants, including Gus Bayer and Carl Wunsche, moved to the area and began farming. People from Louisiana and other parts of the post-Civil War Southern U.S. settled in Spring. The main cash crops in Spring were sugar cane and cotton; area residents also grew vegetables.

The International and Great Northern Railroad, built through Spring, opened in 1871, which caused Spring to expand. In 1873, Spring received a post office. By 1884, Spring had 150 residents, two steam saw and grist mills, two cotton gins, three churches, and several schools. In 1901–1903, the International-Great Northern Railroad opened, connecting Spring to Fort Worth. Spring, now with a roundhouse, became a switchyard with 200 rail workers and fourteen track yards. The population increased to 1,200 by 1910. The Spring State Bank opened in 1912. In 1923, the roundhouse relocated to Houston, causing Spring to enter a decline; by 1931, Spring had 300 people. The bank was robbed several times in the 1930s; it was stated that Bonnie and Clyde robbed the bank once. The bank consolidated with Tomball Bank in 1935.

By 1947, Spring had 700 residents. In the 1970s, Houston's suburbs began to expand to the north, and more subdivisions and residential areas opened in the Spring area. Some older houses in the town of Spring received restorations and housed shops. The Old Town Spring Association opened in 1980 to promote the Old Town Spring shopping area, which consists of the restored houses. In 1984 and 1989, the Spring area had 15,000 residents. By 1989, Old Town Spring became a tourist area. In 1990, the Spring area had 33,111 residents.

From 1969 to 1992, the Goodyear airship America was based in Spring from its large hangar visible just off Interstate 45. Takeoffs and landings were a major attraction and motorists continually pulled off to the interstate's shoulders to watch. In 1992 the America was moved to Akron, Ohio, and the massive hangar was eventually torn down. As of 2020, the hangar's concrete foundation is still visible at the intersection of Holzwarth Road and Meadow Edge Lane west of Lowe's Home Improvement Center.

The 1992 Log Cabin Republicans convention was held in Spring.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 23.6 square miles (61.0 km²), of which 23.2 square miles (60.1 km²) is land and 0.35 square miles (0.9 km²), or 1.51%, is water.

Economy In January 2010 the Houston Business Journal reported that real estate officials said that ExxonMobil planned to build a corporate campus in unincorporated Harris County along Interstate 45, adjacent to the Spring CDP. According to the article, ExxonMobil plans to consolidate thousands of employees from Houston and Fairfax County, Virginia into the facility; employees from over two dozen locations in Greater Houston are expected to be consolidated into the new facility. The 9,000-employee campus opened in 2014, and is due to become ExxonMobil's new headquarters as announced in 2022, after moving from its campus in Irving, Texas.

Community colleges Lone Star College System (formerly the North Harris Montgomery Community College District) serves the areas of Spring ISD, Klein ISD, and Conroe ISD, and therefore the entire Spring area. Areas in Cy-Fair ISD (and therefore Lakes on Eldridge) are located in Lone Star College. Residents of Spring ISD and two other K–12 school districts voted to create the North Harris County College. The community college district began operations in the northern hemisphere fall of 1973.

Public libraries Harris County Public Library (HCPL) operates several library branches.

HCPL operates the Baldwin Boettcher Branch Library at Mercer Park at 22248 Aldine Westfield Road, south of the Spring CDP. The 10,137-square-foot (941.8 m²) branch opened in 1986. It was constructed on donated land. It was named after Baldwin Boettcher, a German settler. His descendants deeded the homestead to Harris County. The plans stated that the Boettcher staff would assist the Mercer Park staff in finding any botanical reference books that they or the public need.

The Barbara Bush Branch Library at Cypress Creek is located in at 6817 Cypresswood Drive in an area with a Spring address west of the Spring CDP. The 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m²) branch originally opened in June 1976. The Library was upgraded and expanded in 2002. Construction of the current library began in the summer of 2000. The current branch was anticipated to house over 120,000 books and materials, making it twice as large as the previous branch. Jesse Sendejas of the Houston Chronicle said there was "a need to provide a more spacious and accommodating facility to Spring and its surrounding areas. That was apparent when county voters approved a $15 million bond for library improvements in November 1997".

Parks and recreation Harris County Precinct 4 operates parks in the Spring CDP. Southwell Park, a 5-acre (2.0 ha) facility located at 27419 Nelson Street, includes the B.F. Clark Community Building, a picnic pavilion with tables and a barbecue pit, one lighted basketball pavilion, barbecue grills, toilets, and two playgrounds: one for children aged 2 through 5 and one for those aged 5 through 12. Bayer Park, a 30-acre (12 ha) facility at 24811 West Hardy Road, includes four lighted softball fields, seven lighted baseball fields, and toilets. Pundt Park is a 380-acre (150 ha) park at 4129 Spring Creek Drive that was being developed as of 2008. The park was to have a canoe launch, a pavilion facility with a meeting room and toilets, a playground facility, picnic areas, and a trail system connecting Bayer Park to the Spring Creek Greenway. Precinct 4 also operates the Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, south of and adjacent to the Spring CDP at 22306 Aldine Westfield Road. The facility includes the Baldwin Boettcher Branch Library, an endangered species garden with a beaver pond, a canoe launch, picnic areas, a playground for children aged 6 through 12, a tea house, a trail, and a visitor center.

The Cypresswood Golf club is located at 21602 Cypresswood Drive in the CDP. The club leases the land from Harris County and maintains the facilities.

A water park called Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown is located in Spring. Old Town Spring is a popular shopping area in Spring.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands is in proximity to Spring.

Old Town Spring Old Town Spring is an old town with over 150 shops, restaurants, and art galleries in Spring, a community in unincorporated Harris County, Texas.

Old Town Spring is north of the city of Houston and outside Beltway 8. Many of the original buildings, some over a hundred years old, now house places to buy antiques, collectibles, clothing, and gifts.

The population in the Old Town Spring area started growing in the early 19th century when the Spanish and French came to trade with the local Akokisa (Orcoquisac) Indians. The small town grew consistently until the early 20th century. At one time the town had as many as five saloons and a gambling hall. The town thrived on the booming railroad business in South Texas and resulting industrialization.

After the Depression, Prohibition, and a relocation of the railroad headquarters, the small town slowly declined in population until Houston's oil boom in the 1970s and 1980s brought merchants back to the area to make the town what it is today.

This town is rumored to have been a robbery victim of Bonnie and Clyde. Though the bank building still has bullet holes from several robberies in the 1920s and 1930s.

In 2015, a parish of the Greater Church of Lucifer opened in the town, which resulted in over a hundred protestors. The Greater Church of Lucifer in Old Town Spring closed in April 2016.