The Woodlands Texas History
The Woodlands Township - A History
The vision of George Mitchell
The Woodlands began as pine forest owned by the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Co. Around 1964 George Mitchell bought the company’s timberland, and about 2,800 acres of it became the first piece of The Woodlands. Over the next ten years about 300 more purchases brought the holdings to 17,455 acres. Today the community covers about 28,500 acres. Cynthia Woods Mitchell, George’s wife, gave it its name.
The Woodlands opened on October 19, 1974. It now has more than 120,000 residents, and since 2010 The Woodlands Township has provided the services once split among village associations and special districts.
Building a town in the forest
Mitchell wanted the opposite of the unplanned growth he saw around Houston in the 1960s. A master plan set out where homes, shops, roads and forest preserves would go, and development standards for landscaping and setbacks kept the trees standing. About 28% of the community is green space.
To pay for the early work, Mitchell turned to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was backing new towns built for a mix of incomes. HUD approved a $50 million loan guarantee in 1972, and on September 6 of that year $50 million in 7.1% New Community Debentures were issued. They were paid off in 1992, and The Woodlands was the only project in the program that didn’t default.
Opening day: October 19, 1974
The Woodlands opened to the public on Saturday, October 19, 1974. At 9:30 a.m. a flag went up at the original Information Center in the Grogan’s Mill Village Center, near The Woodlands Inn and Conference Center. It was the first official act of the grand opening. Cynthia Woods Mitchell cut the ribbon, and thousands of visitors turned out. The day also opened Grogan’s Mill, the first of the community’s villages.
Cynthia Woods Mitchell cuts the ribbon at the grand opening, October 19, 1974. Photo: Houston Chronicle, colorized
George Mitchell (left) with Rep. Charles Wilson, UH President Philip Hoffman and Sen. H.J. “Doc” Blanchard on opening day. Photo: Orie Collins / Houston Chronicle, colorized
George Mitchell hosted the ceremony with U.S. Rep. Charles Wilson of Lufkin, University of Houston President Philip Hoffman and state Sen. H.J. “Doc” Blanchard of Lubbock. Community Impact also reports an appearance by actor William Shatner, though no account from 1974 says what he did there.
What was here on day one
Everything was in Grogan’s Mill. Fewer than 40 people lived in Settler’s Corner, on South Millbend east of Grogan’s Mill Road. Around them were the conference center and country club, the Information Center, the Wharf shopping area, 19 model homes, 50 apartments, three office buildings and a few places for recreation. Home sales started that day, with houses from $49,999, and most of the first residents moved in over the following months.
A 1973 model of Phase 1, the Village of Grogan’s Mill, with a lake to hold flood water. Photo: Bela Ugrin / Houston Chronicle, colorized
Looking east at Timberloch Place and Grogan’s Mill Road, 1974. Photo: Houston Post files / Houston Chronicle, colorized
Getting ready
Many of the volunteers in those first weeks worked for the development company. Before the opening, Bob Hibbetts, an accountant with Mitchell’s real estate company, flew to New York with Doug Campbell, the first fire chief. The two drove the community’s first fire truck back to Texas from Elmira.
Timeline
1964
George Mitchell buys the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Co. timberland, starting with about 2,800 acres. By 1974 about 300 more purchases bring the total to 17,455 acres.
1971
Lamar Elementary opens, three years before the community’s grand opening.
1972
HUD approves a $50 million loan guarantee. On September 6, $50 million in 7.1% New Community Debentures are issued.
1974
On October 19 The Woodlands holds its grand opening, and Grogan’s Mill opens as the first village. The Real Estate Division moves into 2201 Timberloch Place the same year, and a 10-year contract brings the Houston Open golf tournament to The Woodlands.
1977
Panther Creek opens as the second village.
1983
Cochran’s Crossing opens, named for the Cochran family of the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Co.
1983-1987
Collapsing energy prices send the Houston housing market into a slump, yet The Woodlands increases its share of the area’s home sales.
1984
Indian Springs opens, one of the smaller villages. The John Cooper School opens there in 1988.
1985
The Woodlands Hospital opens; it is now Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center. Lake Woodlands, about 200 acres, is filled. Before the water went in, crowds turned out for the Bottom of the Lake Festival on the empty lakebed.
The Bottom of the Lake Festival on the Lake Woodlands basin, 1985
The festival entrance, 1985
1990
The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion opens in April with Frank Sinatra, the Houston Symphony, and Alabama with Clint Black. The Woodlands ranks first in Houston-area new home sales for the first time, and the Palmer golf course opens.
1992
The HUD-backed debentures are paid off.
1993
Town Center, about 1,000 acres, is announced, and the Town Center Improvement District is formed.
1994
The Woodlands Mall opens in October. Alden Bridge opens as a village, along with Cochran’s Crossing Shopping Center.
1995
College Park opens, named for its campuses. Montgomery College is dedicated on August 14, and The Pavilion expands to 13,000 seats.
1996
The Woodlands High School opens. The population passes 45,000, Tinseltown opens as Town Center’s first movie theater, and a record 1,053 new homes are sold. The Information Center, later called the Homefinder Center, moves to Woodlands Parkway near Six Pines Drive.
1997
The population passes 50,000. On July 31 The Woodlands Corporation is sold to Crescent Real Estate Equities and Morgan Stanley for $543 million.
1999
Sterling Ridge opens. Construction starts on The Woodlands Waterway, and Harper’s Landing opens with 1,300 homes.
2000
Windsor Hills, an active adult neighborhood, opens. Resident Laura Wilkinson wins Olympic gold in diving at Sydney, and a record 1,679 new homes are sold.
2002
The Gosling Road Bridge connects The Woodlands to Harris County. The Waterway holds its grand opening, the Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center opens, and Anadarko Petroleum moves into a 30-story tower, the community’s first skyscraper. The population passes 70,000.
2003
The first homes along the Waterway open in Town Center, and construction starts on Market Street. The Rouse Company buys a 52.7% stake in The Woodlands.
2004
Market Street opens. The Waterway reaches The Woodlands Mall, and the Waterway Cruiser water taxis start running.
2007
Creekside Park, the eighth village, opens in Harris County. Agreements with Houston and Conroe hold off annexation, and voters expand the Town Center Improvement District to the whole community and rename it The Woodlands Township.
2008
Hurricane Ike damages Town Center and The Pavilion.
2010
The Township takes over the village associations’ services. The 2010 census counts 93,847 residents.
2011
Howard Hughes buys General Growth’s share of The Woodlands in January and Morgan Stanley’s in July. ExxonMobil announces a new campus near Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road.
2013
Hughes Landing, a 66-acre development on Lake Woodlands, opens; it grows to 79 acres by 2018. George Mitchell dies at 94.
2016
The Woodlands is named Master Planned Community of the Year and Humanitarian of the Year.
2017
Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital opens. In December the last section of the Waterway, to Hughes Landing, is finished; the completion is celebrated on March 8, 2018.
2019
Creekside Park West opens, anchored by Cinépolis.
2020
The census counts 114,436 residents. Howard Hughes moves its headquarters to The Woodlands.
2021
Voters turn down two proposals to incorporate as a city.
2023
Howard Hughes gives The Waterway to The Woodlands Township.
2024
The Woodlands marks its 50th anniversary, with a public celebration on October 19.
More Woodlands history
- Past Festivals in The Woodlands
- The Dancing Queen Flash Mob of 2011
- Waterway Cruisers: The Woodlands Water Taxis
- Hurricane Ike in Town Center, 2008
- Hurricane Ike Ends the 2008 Pavilion Season
- E-Bike Rentals in The Woodlands
Sources: The Woodlands Township; The Woodlands Development Company history; Roger Galatas, “Definitive Events” (George’s Coffee Club); Houston Chronicle (2024); Community Impact (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020); Grogan’s Mill Village Association; Conroe ISD.