Conroe, Texas

Everything Conroe is known for

12 songs mention this city 6 artists from here

Conroe, Texas, located north of Houston in the Piney Woods, has a growing connection to the music world. The city is home to country artists like Parker McCollum and Jeff Canada. Parker McCollum's songs, such as "Lonesome Ten Miles" and "To Be Loved By You," mention Conroe. The city has been recognized as a Texas Music Friendly Community.

Music in Conroe

Songs About Conroe

Conroe 2 Houston (feat. Lil Keke & Hugo)
Andy Yola
83%
"Conroe 2 Houston"
conroe
iron skiller
79%
Christmas in Conroe
Hon. Rev. Sleepy Ray
78%
"Christmas in Conroe"
4Am In Conroe
Shottaslimm
77%
"4Am In Conroe"
Montgomery County
Parker McCollum
72%
"One day, I'll be a Conroe Tiger quarterback"
Lonesome Ten Miles
Parker McCollum
55%
"I don't miss old Conroe"
Hell of a Year
Parker McCollum
45%
I Can't Breathe
Parker McCollum
45%
To Be Loved By You
Parker McCollum
45%
Young Man’s Blues
Parker McCollum
25%
"Used to run down County Road 2854"
Long Line Of Losers
Kevin Fowler
25%
"Spent half his life in the Montgomery County jail"
I’ve Been Everywhere...In Texas
Brian Burns
3%
"Conroe"

Artists From Conroe

P
Parker McCollum
country Pop: 68
J
Jeff Canada
country Pop: 20
B
Bottomland
country Pop: 16
J
James Garland
country Pop: 12
H
Heather Rayleen
country Pop: 4
B
Brylie Renee
country Pop: 1

Rivers & Roads in Song near Conroe

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Conroe.

Interstate 45 7 songs U.S. Route 59 7 songs Trinity River 10 songs US Route 90 8 songs Interstate 10 32 songs Brazos River 37 songs

History of Conroe

Miracle City: How Oil Saved Conroe From the Depression RoadyGoat

When the Great Depression hit, Conroe was on the ropes. Lumber production collapsed, mills closed, and the town's only bank failed in November 1930. Then, on December 13, 1931, a wildcatter named George W. Strake brought in an oil well southeast of town, and a year later his second well tapped the rich Main Conroe sand, flowing 900 barrels a day. What lay beneath would prove to be the third-largest oilfield in the United States at the time. Within weeks the local economy roared back to life as wholesalers, service companies, and thousands of workers poured in; major operators like Humble Oil, now ExxonMobil, and the Texas Company, the future Texaco, rushed leases. By 1933 the field pumped over 21 million barrels from 679 wells. The money was staggering: a county historical commission member has said Conroe in the 1930s had more millionaires per capita than any other city in America, earning it the nickname Miracle City. A Depression-era town that paved its first streets and built a new courthouse on oil money. (Source: Handbook of Texas; Montgomery County Historical Commission.)

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How They Drilled Sideways to Kill a Runaway Well RoadyGoat

When a Conroe well blew out and cratered in 1933, engineers faced a problem with no proven solution: how do you kill a runaway well when you can't even get near the hole? The answer, worked out right here, helped launch a whole field of engineering. Drillers brought in H. John Eastman, today regarded as the father of directional drilling, who proposed something audacious. Rather than fight the crater, he would drill a fresh well about 400 feet away, then steer the bit sideways underground using a whipstock, a tapered wedge that forces the drill bit off in a new direction, until it intersected the runaway wellbore far below ground. Drilling began on November 12, 1933, and after weeks of careful deviation the bore reached the oil formation at roughly 5,135 feet on January 7, 1934. Crews then pumped thousands of gallons of water down under about 1,400 pounds of pressure, and within two days the gusher died. It stands as one of the earliest deliberate uses of directional drilling to intercept and kill another well, a technique now standard for taming blowouts worldwide. (Source: American Oil & Gas Historical Society.)

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The Switch That Became a City RoadyGoat

The town you're rolling into is named for one man's lumber operation. In 1881 a Houston lumberman and former Union cavalry officer named Isaac Conroe set up a sawmill on Stewarts Creek, then moved his works beside the tracks of the International-Great Northern Railroad as it pushed north out of Houston. A railroad siding, or switch, grew up at the mill, and when a post office opened at the commissary in January 1884, the place took the name Conroe's Switch in his honor, with Isaac himself as first postmaster. Within a decade locals had shortened it to plain Conroe. The Piney Woods all around fed a lumber boom that pulled in settlers fast: by 1889 the community had grown enough to wrestle the county seat away from the older town of Montgomery, and by 1892 it shipped lumber, cotton, livestock, and bricks from five sawmills. A man, a creek, a railroad switch, and a wall of pine timber: that is the whole origin of a city that now anchors one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas. (Source: Handbook of Texas.)

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Conroe Oilfield

1931

Conroe field is an elliptical-shaped oil-producing area in south central Montgomery County. It was discovered by a young wildcatter, George W. Strake , but its development was the quick work of Humble Oil and Refining Company (now Exxon ), the Texas Company ( Texaco ), and a number of independents. The original field drew production from an average depth of 5,050 feet in the Upper Cockfield and Main Conroe sands, which overlie a deep-seated, faulted salt dome of Eocene age. The source of primary recovery was a strong water drive and gas-cap expansion. Reservoir pressure has been closely observed since April 1933 and has been maintained by gas and water injections, obviating the need for secondary recovery. Between its discovery on December 13, 1931, and January 1, 1993, the field produced more than 717 million barrels of oil. Although the field held large volumes of gas, many early operators regarded gas as a nuisance and a danger and wasted it through venting or flaring until 1935, when the practice became illegal. The field is significant because its flush production reestablished the Texas Gulf Coast as a major oil-producing province after thirty years of intensive prospecting. Conroe field was named for the county seat, situated five miles to the southeast. Several early exploration attempts in the area of Conroe field proved unsuccessful before and during the 1920s. Gas seeps on the Rhodes farm in Montgomery County captured the interest of a number of local amateur oilmen as early as 1919. They formed Crystal Creek Oil Company and consolidated a block of 5,000 acres in and around the Ransom house survey. Although the acreage later proved to be a part of Conroe field, the company could not finance the drilling of a test and dropped the leases. In 1924 El Saline Petroleum Company No. 1 Outlaw was staked in the G. W. Wagers survey and drilled to 1,961 feet. Finding only gas, the operators abandoned it. The Kelly-Barker No. 1 Juergens was staked in the D. James survey two miles west of Conroe in 1929. Drilling to a depth of 3,662 feet encountered no oil. In January 1930 the No. 1 Juergens was junked. Although amateurs and independents had found no production in the area, several major oil companies took leases and began geophysical studies there. After refraction seismography and torsion balance were used, no oil-bearing structure was found and most of the leases were allowed to expire. Although seismography was important to Gulf Coast exploration by the late 1920s, it offered no evidence of the deep-seated domal structure. That evidence came from a wildcat well drilled by George W. Strake, who became interested in the area. He put together a block of 9,300 acres and spudded a poor-boy well, the Strake No. 1 South Texas Development Company, in the Theo Slade survey on August 30, 1931. He drilled the well to a depth of 5,033 feet, where it began to spray fifteen million cubic feet of gas and 200 barrels of condensate a day. The discovery was given little attention because it produced only gas and condensate and because oilmen regarded the Cockfield sands as unproductive. At the end of 1931, Conroe field reported annual production of 1,000 barrels of oil from one well. Although Strake had found oil, he still had no money to develop the field. In March 1932 his company, Strake Oil Corporation, contracted with Humble Oil and Refining Company. Strake Oil assigned six leases to the major company for $100,000 and agreed to drill four wells for Humble to a depth of 5,500 feet at a maximum cost of $50,000 each. Strake Oil brought in the No. 2 South Texas Development Company, staked 2,400 feet south of the No. 1, at a depth of 5,026 feet on June 5, 1932. It flowed 900 barrels of oil a day and was considered the discovery well in the Conroe field because it sank into the Main Conroe sand and produced large quantities of oil. Although there were other operators in the field, Strake and Humble delayed the drilling of additional wells for

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Strake, George William

1931

George William Strake, pioneer oilman and philanthropist, was born on November 9, 1894, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of William George and Anna (Casper) Strake. He was educated in the public schools of St. Louis and received a B.S. degree from St. Louis University in 1917. He served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War I , then worked in the oil industry in Mexico from 1919 to 1925. Afterwards, he went to Havana, Cuba, where he lost almost all of the $250,000 he had made in Mexico. In 1927 Strake moved to the Houston area and, as an independent oilman, leased land near Conroe. His 8,500 acres of South Texas Development Company land was the largest block of land leased up to that time for oil exploration. Geologists claimed that no oil was to be found there, however, and Strake could not get outside financial backing; nevertheless, after drilling many dry wells, he struck oil in December 1931. Other successful wells followed in the Conroe oilfield , which proved to be the third largest oilfield in the United States. Strake's discovery proved that the Cockfield sand was an oil-producing formation and opened wildcatting in an area fifty miles wide and 500 miles long, from Texas into Louisiana and Mississippi. His oil operations eventually spread into coastal and West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, the southern states, and as far north as Michigan and Nebraska. His oil fortune was estimated to be between $100 million and $200 million. In addition to his oil interests, Strake was a director of the Mercantile-Commerce Bank and Trust Company in St. Louis, chairman of the board and president of the Aluminum Products Company in Houston, an original stockholder and founder of the Houston Tribune , and an officer in many other companies. In 1937 he represented the governor and the state of Texas at the United States presidential inauguration, and during World War II he served on the citizens' committee for Houston-Harris County civil defense and as Texas representative for Belgian war relief. Strake, a devout Catholic, gave much of his oil fortune to educational institutions, civic organizations, and charities. He served on the national executive board of the Boy Scouts of America and donated several thousand acres near Conroe to the scouts; the land, named Camp Strake, was the third largest scout camp in the United States. Strake donated $500,000 to the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation in Houston and thus became a founding benefactor of that institution. He was also a generous contributor to the University of St. Thomas and a member of its board of trustees, and to Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School in Houston, which was named in his honor. He was on the board of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, served Our Lady of the Lake College (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio in an advisory capacity, and was a trustee of the Institute of Chinese Culture in Washington. He was also on the board of governors of the American National Red Cross and the Southwest Research Institute and was a trustee of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Strake was cited as the most generous contributor to the Houston-Harris County United Fund charities. He was a member of numerous professional and civic organizations. In recognition of his gifts and support, Strake received several honorary degrees and four papal honors between 1937 and 1950, including two of the Vatican's highest honors for a layman-the Order of St. Sylvester and the Order of Malta. The National Conference of Christians and Jews, in which he served as a member of the national board, honored him in 1950 for outstanding contributions to business, civic, and religious affairs. On June 5, 1957, the citizens of Conroe honored Strake on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the discovery of oil in Montgomery County by dedicating a monument to him on the city hall lawn; Governor Price Daniel read a proclamation designating the day George W. Stra

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Surratt, Fannie Pearl Cochran

1949

Fannie Pearl Cochran Surratt, the first woman to serve as sheriff of Montgomery County, Texas, was born to Terrell McKinney Cochran and Laura (Grogan) Cochran in Jefferson, Marion County, Texas, on February 2, 1902. Her father worked in the logging and lumber industry, so the family moved frequently. In 1910 the Cochrans lived in Taylor County. Ten years later they lived in Cass County, where she completed high school. She attended East Texas State Teachers College (later Texas A&M University-Commerce). On August 28, 1923, at the age of twenty-one, she married Hershel R. Surratt, a truck driver, in Cass County. In the 1920s they moved to Montgomery County, where Hershel eventually became deputy sheriff, then sheriff in 1942. Surratt stayed home to raise the couple's only child, Gloria, who was born on January 29, 1927. During the Great Depression, she served as the Montgomery County supervisor for a school lunch program for underprivileged children under the Work Projects Administration (WPA). She was also an active member of the First Baptist Church of Conroe, the Conroe Garden Club, the Business and Professional Women's Club, and the Daughters of the American Revolution . Forty-seven-year-old Fannie Pearl Surratt became Montgomery County's first woman sheriff after her husband died from a heart attack on July 22, 1949. County officials appointed her to serve the final seventeen months of her husband's second term on August 1, 1949. In a practice commonly referred to as "widow's succession," political leaders sometimes asked a widow to temporarily fill her deceased husband's office for politically expedient reasons. They did so often with the expectation that the widow served in a superficial capacity. She, however, took her new position seriously and was determined to enforce anti-vice laws that others, including her own husband, had ignored. Surratt went on a vigorous campaign to end gambling and prostitution in the county. A petite woman, Sheriff Surratt wore a cowboy hat, an ankle-length skirt, and a western-style collared shirt with a tie. She also carried a small pistol in a hip holster and a large pearl-handled chrome revolver in her waistband. Although known as a "good shot," she gained notoriety in the region for her other weapon of choice-an ax handle. On August 11, 1949, Surratt ordered that pinball machines, punchboards, and marble tables used for games of chance, all of which were considered gambling devices and illegal in Texas, had to be removed from the county within a week. Then, on August 18, she and her officers raided night clubs, cafes, and other establishments with these devices. She used her ax handle to smash and destroy the pinball machines and other gambling equipment, which drew comparisons to Carry Nation by newspapers. Surratt went to court several times for her aggressive tactics. In one instance, the Conroe Amusement Company filed for an injunction to stop the seizure of 200 machines and her ax handle-wielding methods. In response, she filed a cross-action injunction to stop the company from doing business in the county. On the morning of the hearing, local church women, clergy from the Methodist and Baptist churches, and other residents held a prayer vigil in support for Surratt, who attended, then marched, 300 en masse, to the courthouse. Judge Earnest Coker of the Ninth District Court refused to grant either injunction, ruled her seizure of the machines was legal, and warned her against destruction of property. Also during her tenure, Sheriff Surratt and her department helped locate and rescue a U.S. Air Force pilot who had to eject from his jet after radioing Ellington Air Force Base ( see ELLINGTON FIELD ) of his intentions. After Surratt left law enforcement, she became a real estate agent. According to her grandson, she privately helped minorities work through the legal system and fought housing discrimination. She died of lymphoma at the age of eighty on July 18, 1982, at a hospital in H

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Conroe Oil Field

1931

One of the great petroleum areas of the Texas coastal region. Opened December 13, 1931, by the discovery well of George Strake (No. 1 South Texas Development Company), about 1.4 miles west of here. Initial daily flow: 15,000,000 cubic feet of gas, along with white gasoline. Strake's second well, a 900-barrel-a-day producer, and the Heep Oil Corp. No. 1 Freeman (both coming in during June 1932) proved existence of a large field. Fast-paced drilling ensued. In January 1933 Madeley No. 1, of Kansas Standard, came in as a wild well and on fire. TNT charges and tons of earth did not smother the fire; it burned about three months. Cratering spread to Harrison and Abercrombie well nearby, and that gushed out of control. In January 1934 a driller for Humble "killed the blowout," by using directional drilling for first time in coastal Texas. This saved the field. (The crater is 600 feet deep.) The Conroe field was the first in Texas to adopt 20-acre spacing, before this was mandatory under conservation rules. It has yielded over 400,000,000 barrels of oil; now produces at the yearly rate of 5,300,000 barrels. After the dramatic discovery here, Montgomery County developed eleven other oil fields, and has reserves for continuing production. (1967)

Historical Marker → · 4.5 mi away

Conroe Fire of 1911

1911

On February 21, 1911 around 1:30 in the morning, a fire broke out in the Capitol Drug Store on Chambers (today North Main) Street. The blaze was well underway before it was discovered and northerly winds began sweeping the flames southeastward toward the railroad tracks. The volunteer fire department had only one hose cart which was pulled by hand to fight the inferno and the lack of water pressure led to the fight being called off. The post office, meat market, saloon, grocery store and Masonic lodge were among the businesses caught in the path of the fire as well as the homes of their owners who lived above their stores. Sixty-five buildings, store inventories and personal belongings were lost that early February morning, costing an estimated total of $150,000, over 3.5 million dollars in today's money. The following business day, the city council created an ordinance requiring buildings to have "fire proof" materials protecting the wooden structures. A year later, the city council voted to amend the ordinance to require buildings to be constructed out of brick and stone. The 1911 fire in downtown Conroe and the prompt response to its destruction by Conroe residents reflected the resilience of Texans as they settled, struggled and prospered in southeast Texas. Despite the tragedy caused by the fire, the resurrection of stately brick business buildings provides current city visitors with a picture of a bygone era with buildings over a century in age. It further echoes the town's nickname, "The town that faith built!" (2013)

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Montgomery County Courthouses

1837

The Montgomery County Courthouse in the center of downtown Conroe memorializes the remarkable history of one of the oldest counties in the state of Texas. Montgomery County is the third county created by the Republic of Texas, originally part of the Washington municipality. It was established through an act of the Congress of the Republic on December 14, 1837, in response to a petition by settlers on the east side of the Brazos River. Original boundaries of Montgomery County included present-day counties of Grimes, Walker, San Jacinto and a portion of Madison and Waller Counties. The town of Montgomery served as the first county seat. Three separate courthouses (two small log cabins and one two-story wood building) served county government until 1889 when the county seat was moved to Conroe after an election. The home of Isaac Conroe served as a temporary courthouse until the first courthouse was constructed on this site in 1891. Red bricks, which were manufactured in Conroe, were used in the new courthouse and in the jail across the street. Many repairs and changes were made to the building, and in 1909 the exterior was plastered. In 1934, the county commissioners court voted to build a new, larger courthouse with a jail on the 4th and 5th floors. The present Art Deco-style courthouse was completed in 1936 during the economic prosperity caused by the Conroe oil boom. In 1966, due to the growth of Conroe and Montgomery County, north and south wings were added. The courthouses of Montgomery County have been the center of political, civic and business activity since 1838. (2013)

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Things to Do in Conroe

historical 22.8 mi away
Tomball ISD Stadium

A $35 million high school football cathedral — because in Texas the stadium is the town square. Friday night lights at their finest.
food 19.1 mi away
Goodson's Cafe

Tomball cafe on State Highway 249, north of Houston. Ella Goodson took over the place in 1954, and the chicken-fried steak here has been called the best in…
day trip
Day Trip to Conroe 🐺 (FULL EPISODE) S8 E4

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Sports in Conroe

⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 6A · Baseball

Conroe Tigers — Conroe — a college & pro athletic pipeline

5 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

Conroe High School has a proud tradition of athletic talent, with several former Tigers making their mark in major college and professional sports. These alumni represent various sports and have competed at the highest levels. Their achievements reflect the dedication and skill developed during their time at Conroe High.

Among the notable names are Jeromy Burnitz, a former MLB outfielder, and Rock Cartwright, a former NFL running back. Andrew Cashner, an MLB pitcher for the Texas Rangers, also hails from Conroe. The school's impact extends to coaching, with Tyke Tolbert, a Wide Receivers coach for the NFL New York Giants. More recently, Dominique Ratcliff, a college football defensive lineman for the Indiana Hoosiers, continues this legacy.

Pro/D1 alumni
5
Class
6A
Key Players
  • Jeromy Burnitz — , former MLB outfielder for seven different teams
  • Rock Cartwright — , former NFL running back for the Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers
  • Andrew Cashner — , MLB pitcher for the Texas Rangers
  • Dominique Ratcliff — (Class of 2020), college football defensive lineman for the Indiana Hoosiers
  • Tyke Tolbert — (Class of 1986), Wide Receivers coach for the NFL New York Giants.
The moment

Andrew Cashner pitched as an MLB pitcher for the Texas Rangers.

Sources: Wikipedia · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Conroe

488 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Conroe on the Map
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