Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Houston. It is a principal city in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area.[6]
As of 2021, the population was 98,081, up from 56,207 in 2010. According to the Census Bureau, Conroe was the fastest-growing large city in the United States between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016.[3]
The city is named after Northern-born Union Cavalry officer and Houston lumberman Isaac Conroe.[7] Conroe founded a sawmill there in 1881.[7] The city originally gained in wealth due to the lumber and oil industries. Originally named “Conroe’s Switch”,[7] the area saw an influx of residents in the late 19th century due to the lumber demands on the piney wood forest of the area.[7]
In 1886, Conroe Mill School was established in the expanding town.
In 1922, a black man named Joe Winters was burned at the stake on the courthouse steps.[8]
George W. Strake discovered the Conroe Oil Field in 1931. Distillate and natural gas were produced from the Cockfield Formation at a depth of about 5,000 feet (1,500 m). A second well in 1932 produced 1200 BOPD. By 1935, the field had produced 40 million barrels of oil.[9][10]
During the 1930s, because of oil profits, the city boasted more millionaires per capita than any other U.S. city, though only briefly.[7] After the construction of Interstate 45, many Houstonians began to settle communities around Conroe.[7]