Mitchell, an oil businessman, planned to establish a conference center, hotels, office parks, retail malls, schools, large distribution centers, and golf courses. Mitchell in 1974 and managed by The Woodlands Corporation as an extension of Mitchell Energy & Development. Mitchell attended a symposium by the Rouse Company subsidiary American City Corporation and developer of Columbia, Maryland, on how to develop new towns using the HUD Title VII program. The Woodlands was conceived after the oil industry investor George P. In 1984, construction in the Indian Springs neighborhood near the creek discovered Bidai artifacts.

The area that is now The Woodlands was used by the Akokisa and Bidai peoples, who relied on the fresh water of Spring Creek.

The community won a Special Award for Excellence in 1994 from the Urban Land Institute. Though it began as an exurban development and a bedroom community, it has also attracted corporations and has several corporate campuses, most notably Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Chevron Phillips Chemical, Huntsman Corporation, Woodforest National Bank, Baker Hughes, McKesson Specialty Health, and Halliburton. The Woodlands is located 28 miles (45 km) north of Houston along Interstate 45. The United States Census Bureau defines an urban area separate from the Houston urban area with The Woodlands as a principal city: The Woodlands– Conroe, TX urban area had a 2020 population of 402,454, making it the 103rd largest in the United States. In 2021, The Howard Hughes Corporation estimated the population of The Woodlands was 119,000. Census, the township had a population of 114,436 people.

The Woodlands is governed by The Woodlands Township, an organization that provides municipal services and is administered by an elected board of directors. The Woodlands is primarily located in Montgomery County, with portions extending into Harris County. state of Texas in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands is a special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S.

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