Montgomery County, Texas in the context of "The Woodlands, Texas"

Houston is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.3 million at the 2020 census. The Greater Houston metropolitan area, at 7.8 million residents, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan area in the nation and second-most populous in Texas. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is the seat of Harris County. Covering a total area of 640.4 square miles (1,659 km), it is the ninth largest city in the country and the largest whose municipal government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Although primarily located within Harris County, portions of the city extend into Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Houston also functions as the southeastern anchor of the Texas Triangle megaregion.

Houston was founded by land investors on August 30, 1836, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou (a point now known as Allen's Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city is named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had won Texas's independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles (40 km) east of Allen's Landing. After briefly serving as the capital of the Texas Republic in the late 1830s, Houston grew steadily into a regional trading center for the remainder of the 19th century. The 20th century brought a convergence of economic factors that fueled rapid growth in Houston, including a burgeoning port and railroad industry, the decline of Galveston as Texas's primary port following a devastating 1900 hurricane, the subsequent construction of the Houston Ship Channel, and the Texas oil boom. In the mid-20th century, Houston's economy diversified, as it became home to the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, home to the Mission Control Center.

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.

As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, the city has increased in size (and population) by annexation, with the city territory expanding from 52.8 to 74.4 square miles. Some communities have attempted to fight such annexation. According to the Census Bureau, Conroe was the fastest-growing large city in the United States between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016.

Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The population was 62,559 at the 2020 census. While the name "Spring" is popularly applied to a large area of northern Harris County and a smaller area of southern Montgomery County, the original town of Spring, now known as Old Town Spring, is at the intersection of Spring-Cypress and Hardy roads and encompasses perhaps 1 square kilometer (0.39 sq mi).