Spring, Texas
Spring, Texas is an unincorporated and autonomous district located 20 miles north of downtown Houston. The town lies in the northern part of Harris County and the southern part of Montgomery County and has a population of 36,385 (according to the 2000 census). Spring boasts a rural feel for a town in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area. A listing by US News & World Report ranked Spring as one of the top 1,000 U.S. cities in which to retire. Whatever your reasons for moving to Spring, there are many attractions available.
Economy:
Spring’s early economic growth resulted from first agriculture (primarily cotton and sugar cane) and then from the railroads. During the 50 years between the 1870s and 1920s, the railroad industry dominated the Spring economy, which subsequently collapsed with the removal of that industry to Houston. Spring’s economy revived somewhat with the growth of Houston in the 1960s, creating a suburban economy for the town. Today, many of Spring’s residents continue to commute to Houston for work, although population growth has resulted in an increased service industry. There are also signs of an increasing corporate presence, as the Houston Business Journal announced in January 2010 that ExxonMobil intended to build a new corporate campus in Spring. These exciting new opportunities ensure that Spring moving companies will be busy for a long time.
History:
The Orcoquisac Indians were the original inhabitants of the Spring area. French and Spanish posts existed in the area before the beginning of the 19th century in order to trade with the Orcoquisacs and others. Permanent settlement began slowly in the early 1800s, and the independence of Texas from Mexico in 1836 led to more rapid population growth, particularly of German immigrant groups. The railroads reached eastern Texas in the early 1870s. Workers laying tracks throughout a harsh winter named their springtime settlement, Camp Spring and made the site an official settlement in 1873. As a regional base for railroad operations and the location of a rail line crossroads, Spring grew rapidly, from 153 in 1840 to 1200 in 1910. The town depended greatly on the railroads, and their departure for Houston in 1923 led to an economic and demographic collapse in Spring (the population in 1931 was only 300). Houston’s rapid oil-fueled growth in the 1960s brought new life to Spring, and the population and economy expanded throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Tourism:
Spring is a small town, but it still has many attractions. There are several museums in the town, including the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts (associated with the Houston Museum of Fine Arts), the Civil War Museum and the Spring Historical Museum. Other cultural activities in Spring are found in Old Town Spring, with its historic homes and shopping areas, and at the Cypress Creek Foundation for the Arts & Community Enrichment, offering classical and popular musical performances throughout the year. Among the annual events in Spring are the Down Home Christmas (held on the second weekend in November), the Long Horn Rod Run (held on the last weekend in September), the Texas Crawfish & Music Festival (held during the last two weeks of April) and the Springfest wine, art and food festival (held in March). You can get to Spring by air via Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. Travel by bus is available on Harris County’s METRO service.
Colleges/Universities:
• Lone Star College
Interesting Facts:
• The Good Year company based its airship, the America, out of Spring between 1969 and 1992 (when it moved to Akron, Ohio).
• Despite Spring’s economic downturn, the Spring State Bank survived into the 1930s. It was, however, robbed several times in that period. Rumors claimed that Bonnie and Clyde, the infamous robbery duo, were behind the thefts, but there is no evidence to support this.
• Five-time Olympic medalist, Chad Hedrick, was born and raised in Spring. He won three medals for speed skating in the 2006 Olympics and two more in the 2010 Olympics.
Helpful Links:
• Spring, Texas Real Estate
• Spring Community Site
• Great Northwest Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Spring Moving Guide
• Spring Insurance