Houston has had a rich and colorful history, dating back to the original Orcoquisac Indians that hunted and harvested rich resources of deer, bear, and buffalo.  German, French, and Spanish explorers charted the area as early as the 1600's. In 1836, the Allen Brothers of New York purchased 6,642 acres of land along the Buffalo Bayou---now called Allen's Landing---as a lucrative real estate venture, paying about $1.40 U.S. per acre.  Houston received it's name from the first president of the Republic of Texas, President Sam Houston.  The General was the commander of the Texas army that won Texas' independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836.  

Houston is now the 4th largest city in the United States.  It ranks as the largest city in the South and Southwest sprawling into a 5 county region of 5,436 square miles.  We will be touring the area Northwest of Houston, affectionately known to anyone who has lived here awhile as the "Great Northwest".  It is an area that is experiencing explosive growth while carefully guarding its resources and charm, and welcoming our new residents as neighbors and friends.

CYPRESS, TEXAS Rumor has it there's a fortune buried in Cypress. The story goes that Mexicans heading home from East Texas were carrying a lot of wealth with them when attacked by Indians somewhere along Cypress Creek in the early 1830's. With nothing better to do than defend themselves they decided to dig a hole and put their treasure in it. Whether any of the Mexicans survived or not, the story ends that the money is still buried. To this day, optimists continue to search.

    Since the 1840's this rural community has attracted settlers. Mail reached them by train. The immigrants were industrious, and soon the area had the usual commercial businesses: a corn cracking mill, a cotton gin, and a sawmill.  Cypress, along with other places along the Gulf Coast, benefitted from the turn-of-the-century oil boom.  A crew looking for oil discovered a hot artesian well and city folks came up by train to enjoy and soak in the hot mineral baths.  Today Cypress sits along Hempstead Road, but the community was originally located north of where it is now. In spite of nearly 150 years of changes, Cypress maintains an awareness of its heritage - and an awareness of its continuing charm in the modern world.

     The Great Depression marked the beginning of a new kind of prosperity for Tomball. In 1933 drillers struck oil near town and boisterous "roughnecks" appeared overnight. Soon job-hungry oil field workers and their families were streaming into town tripling the population. Reminders of bygone days can be seen along the streets of Tomball today. The old freight depot is one of the last relics of the oilboom days. The white brick Peck Hotel is the descendant of one of the oil boom hotels. Livingston's Pharmacy still features high chrome bar stools at the soda fountain.  Tomball's warm glow has welcomed new residents and friends for many years.  The excitement of boomtown has returned.

KLEIN, TEXAS German immigrants settled in the Big Cypress community now know as Klein. Pioneer families began arriving in the 1840's. An early leader was Adam Klein, a native of Stuttgart.  After the German revolution of 1848, he traveled to California in the 1849 gold rush and returned to the Gulf Coast a wealthy man. He bought the land near Cypress Creek for 33 cents an acre and ran a farm. He also controlled the area's important businesses, the grist mill and cotton gin. The Klein community was named in 1884 when Adam Klein succssfully petitioned for a post office. As years passed commercial cotton farming gave way to raising vegetables. Today, Strack Farms, the best known truck farm of the area, occupies part of the original acreage purchased by the five Strack brothers in 1850 in North Harris County.

SPRING, TEXAS In the mid 1800's, men were building railroad right-of-ways and laying track between Palestine and Houston. One camp was located south of a creek in the area now known as Spring. By 1902, Spring was a railroad boom town sporting hotels, a saloon, general stores and a lumber mill. Early German settlers were involved in those businesses as well as farming. In 1923 the rail yard moved to Houston, the coming Depression forced the closing of the bank and prohibition closed the saloon----enough to kill any other town. Spring remained. Businesses and residences in the area are now called Old Town, and it remains a very popular tourist destination for area visitors.  The Wunsche Brothers Hotel and Saloon, built in 1902 became the Spring Cafe and by the early 1980's was drawing customers from all over the nation, and the food and atmosphere will keep you coming back again and again.

During the 1970's, Northwest Houston was a sleepy, hidden woodland that was an enclave of farming and early settlers filled with rich, natural resources intersected by several farm to market roads. In the decade that followed the area experienced one of the most phenomenal growth stories in the history of Texas.