Coldspring

History

The history of Coldspring is linked to Stephen F. Austin's first colony in Texas, which established, among other locales, San Jacinto County. Austin's original colony extended to the Trinity River watershed (roughly along Texas 156 toward Point Blank). After receiving a commission from the Mexican government to settle the town, Joseph Vehlein, a German immigrant to Mexico, deeded to Robert Rankin, an American Revolutionary officer. This acreage included the site of Coldspring. The settlement of Cold Springs (old spelling) began around 1850. In 1848, the only building was a nearby trading post called "Coonskin" (later, "Fireman's Hill"). Coldspring had developed into a bustling county-seat town by 1915, but disaster struck on March 30, 1915, when the wooden courthouse burned, thus removing the economic foundation of the town. Plans for a new courthouse were made, and the present building was completed in 1918. The townspeople then moved their buildings to be closer to the new courthouse. In 1983, San Jacinto County Sheriff James Cecil "Humpy" Parker was convicted of six civil rights abuses of suspects using the form of torture called waterboarding and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. However, he served fewer than five before his medical release due to brain cancer; he died in 1994. Parker's son and deputy, Gary, was convicted in 1984 of conspiracy to violate suspects' rights. These incidents were incorporated into a novel by Steven Sellers, Terror on Highway 59 in 1984, which in turn was made into a made-for-television movie, Terror on Highway 91 (1989), starring Ricky Schroder.

Geography

Coldspring is located at (30.588194, –95.133262). Houston, the fifth-largest metropolitan center in the United States, is about to Coldspring's south. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,400
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,141
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  1,078
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,075
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,028
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  988
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  875
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  781

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-05-18
  5 km NNW of Huntington, Texas