Atascocita is a census-designated place (CDP) in an unincorporated area within Harris County, Texas, the United States within the Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 88,174. It is located north and south of Farm to Market Road 1960 about 6 miles (10 km) east of Humble and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of downtown Houston in northeastern Harris County.
Bordered on its eastern shore by the 12,000-acre (4,900 ha) Lake Houston, the community contains several parks, country clubs, and golf courses, including Atascocita Country Club, Walden on Lake Houston Golf and Country Club, and Tour 18, a recreation of some of the United States’ most celebrated golf holes.
Atascocita was named one of the “Best Places to Retire” by U.S. News & World Report, citing Lake Houston’s boating and fishing opportunities and Atascocita’s numerous golf courses.
Atascocita’s name derives from the Atascocito military outpost and subsequent road constructed by the Spanish in 1756. The Atascocito Road stretched from Spanish Louisiana in the east to San Antonio in the west, connecting eastern Texas to the rest of New Spain. The Atascocito Road was a major route for American migrants moving to Texas in the 1820s and 1830s. It is unclear exactly when Atascocito shifted to Atascocita.
The City of Houston annexed portions of what would become Atascocita in the 1960s, but it was de-annexed in the late 1970s.
Construction in the area began in the 1970s. In the 1990s Atascocita included fifteen neighborhoods and was one of the fastest-growing developments in the Greater Houston area.
In 2009 the Gadberry Group named Atascocita as one of “9 from 2009” most notable high growth areas in the United States. The 2010 census listed Atascocita’s population as 65,844, up from 35,757 at the 2000 census.
Atascocita has two community newspapers, The Tribune Newspaper and The Atascocita Observer.