Setting
Spring is a census-designated place in Harris County and sits within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston. It is part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, with a 2020 census population of 62,559.
The name Spring is commonly used for a wider area of northern Harris County and a smaller part of southern Montgomery County. The original town, now called Old Town Spring, is centered at Spring-Cypress and Hardy roads and covers about 1 square kilometer.
Climate and Landscape
Spring covers 23.6 square miles, with 23.2 square miles of land and 0.35 square miles of water. Its climate has hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters, and is classified as humid subtropical.
Early History
The area now known as Spring was originally inhabited by the Orcoquiza Native Americans. In 1836, what is now Spring was placed in the Harrisburg municipality, and in 1838 William Pierpont established a trading post on Spring Creek.
By the mid-1840s, German immigrants, including Gus Bayer and Carl Wunsche, had moved into the area and began farming. Settlers from Louisiana and other parts of the post-Civil War South also came to Spring. Sugar cane and cotton were the main cash crops, and residents also grew vegetables.
Railroad Growth and Change
The International and Great Northern Railroad opened through Spring in 1871, bringing growth to the town. Spring received a post office in 1873, and by 1884 it had mills, cotton gins, churches, schools, and 150 residents.
After the roundhouse moved to Houston in 1923, the population declined. Later, as Houston’s suburbs expanded northward in the 1970s, more subdivisions and residential areas opened in the Spring area.
Old Town Spring and Local Features
Old Town Spring is an old town area with more than 150 shops, restaurants, and art galleries. Many original buildings, some more than 100 years old, now hold businesses selling antiques, collectibles, clothing, and gifts.
From 1969 to 1992, the Goodyear airship America was based in Spring, and its takeoffs and landings drew motorists to watch from Interstate 45. As of 2020, the concrete foundation of the former hangar was still visible near Holzwarth Road and Meadow Edge Lane.
What it is like
Spring is off Interstate Highway 45, twenty miles north of Houston in north Harris County. It developed from a farming community into a railroad center after the Houston and Great Northern Railroad arrived in 1871, and later had a major switchyard with fourteen trackyards and 200 rail workers.
Homes and housing
Spring developed from a farming community into a railroad town after 1871, then declined after the roundhouse moved to Houston in 1923. In the 1970s, Houston suburbs expanded northwestward, and increasing numbers of subdivisions and residential areas grew around Spring. Some old houses were restored and opened as shops; the Old Town Spring Association formed in 1980, and the Old Town Spring Improvement District was established in 2003 as a special purpose tax district.
Sources: Spring, Texas (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA); tshaonline.org