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City of Oak Ridge North
Submitted by Mary Goranson Eklof
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The youngest city in Montgomery
County, as of this writing, is the
City
of Oak Ridge North. It is located
in the Charles Eisterwall Survey and was incorporated as late as
January 20, 1979 with a population of 2,445. Why did the residents
of this South Montgomery County subdivision decide to take this
important step? Let us step back in time, about 15-20 years, and
look at the development of the area.
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In 1964, an
Arkansas corporation, known as the Spring Pines Corporation, bought
and developed land in the subdivision called Oak Ridge North.
Geographically speaking, the area stretched from Oakwood Drive on
the South to Woodson Road on the North and from Blueberry Hill
(outside the development) on the East to Budde Road on the West.
Interstate Highway 45 cut through the area (North-South) with the
major part of the subdivision being on the East side of this
important link between Houston and Dallas. United Diversified,
Inc., took over the development in 1969. More acreage, North of
Woodson Road, was added to the subdivision after Associated
Properties (O. Dean Couch, President) became the main developer in
1971.
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Many people were attracted to the
beautiful wooded area featuring lower taxes and insurance rates
than similar areas of Harris County, where the majority earned their
living. Oak Ridge North lies within the Conroe Independent School
District, which has a very good reputation. This was another reason
families chose to live and raise their children in Montgomery
County.
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As the city of Houston grew, it
started to annex more and more land around it to enlarge its tax
base. Some of the residents of Oak Ridge North began to worry about
being swallowed by the Giant. There were some areas of Houston,
annexed 20 years earlier, that still were without city services
-but
the City Fathers liked the tax money from those same areas. Would
this be the fate of Oak Ridge North? A movement started in the Oak
Ridge North Civic Club to find out if there was any interest in
becoming an incorporated community. It appeared most people were
satisfied with things the way they were. As the years went by
Houston became even more aggressive in its annexation efforts. It
annexed narrow strips northward along Interstate Highway 45 coming
closer and closer to Montgomery County. When Houston’s E.T.J.
(extra-territorial jurisdiction) reached Spring-Cypress Road, in
North Harris County, the incorporation interest came alive in two
South Montgomery County subdivisions, Oak Ridge North and Shenandoah
Valley. The group spear heading the incorporation effort in Oak
Ridge North consisted of Bill Blackshear, Fred Hajduk, Jack Eklof,
Sheron Johnson, Cliff Stark, Bill Aulenbacher and Dorthy Christman.
The proponents of incorporation felt it most important that “we
protect ourselves against Houston” and the only way this could be
done was either by becoming an incorporated community or by being
annexed by e. g. Conroe. The city officials of Conroe declared that
they had no interest in Oak Ridge North, released
the area from its E.T.J. in order
for Oak Ridge North to call an election to decide the issue.
Geographically speaking, the proposed city would encompass the same
area as the Oak Ridge Municipal Utility District: the Southern
boundary going from the Highway East-SouthEast along Spring Pines
Drive, including Basswood Court, along O.R.M.U.D’s drainage ditch
to Maplewood Drive. The city would be the rest of the subdivision
East of l. H. 45 up to Oak Ridge Elementary School. In an election,
with low voter turnout, it was decided not to incorporate at this
time. In Shenandoah Valley, on the contrary, the voters went to the
polls on the same day and did decide to create a city of their own.
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A time period of two years had to
elapse before another incorporation election could be held. On
January 20, 1979, the voters in the Oak Ridge Municipal Utility
District once again were faced with the decision to incorporate or
not. Houston was practically standing on the doorstep, with its
E.T.J. already in Oak Ridge North, right to the border of the
Utility District. This was really too close to home for most of the
residents, who this time realized that it was now or never
– if they
wanted to have a say in the destiny of Oak Ridge North. The majority
approved of incorporation and so the City of Oak Ridge North was
born. The following residents worked very hard to inform their
neighbors of the positive and negative sides of being an
incorporated community: Jerry Bradford, Wayne Witwer, Bill Easton,
Jerome Owens and Harry Tate. The first officials of the City of Oak
Ridge North were elected in April, 1979. They were: G.W.
(Bud) Roesler – Mayor; Charles Cooper – Marshall; Bill Neill –
Alderman; John Planchard - Alderman (Mayor pro tern); James A. Osina
- Alderman;
W. Don Thacker – Alderman; Fred
Wagner – Alderman.
Hired to serve as City Secretary
was Sandy Coleman, as Treasurer Laura Spence, Building Administrator
Veronica Hutton, as Judge Pat Ruffin (Justice of Peace in Precinct
3). Mrs. Ruffin serving until such time when the Council could
appoint a City Judge. Marilyn Rodgers was appointed Judge of the
City of Oak Ridge North in the Spring of 1980.
The same persons
are serving on the City Council in 1980 with the exception of Bill
Neill, who did not seek reelection due to his heavy workload as Fire
Chief of the Woodlands. His Council seat is now occupied by Veronica
Hutton.
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Organizations & Clubs in OaK
Ridge North
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South Montgomery County Volunteer
Fire Department |
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Women’s Auxiliary
of S.M.C.V.F.O. |
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Boy Scouts and
Cub Scouts of America |
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Girl Scouts of
America |
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Oak Ridge North
Civic Club |
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Four Seasons Garden Club
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Oak Ridge North Garden Club
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Oak Ridge North
Swim Club |
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Churches
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Oak Ridge Baptist Church (SBC)
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Oak Ridge Church of Christ
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Spring House of
Faith |
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Timer Ridge
Presbyterian Church |
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Lord of Life
Lutheran Church (LCA was located on the corner of Robinson Road and
Patsy Lane, but
relocated to the Woodlands in the late 1970’s.)
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More on Oak Ridge North
OAK RIDGE NORTH, TEXAS.
Oak Ridge North is on Interstate Highway 45 ten miles south of Conroe in
southern Montgomery County. It originated in 1964 when Arkansas-based Spring
Pines Corporation purchased a large tract of land two miles north of Spring
Creek in the Charles Eisterwall Survey-patented in the mid-nineteenth
century-and proceeded to build a subdivision. Interstate 45, which runs
through the development, was completed just as the subdivision was launched
and quickly became an axis for economic and population growth. During the
late 1960s and early 1970s increasing numbers of Houstonians, attracted by
the beautifully wooded site, its accessibility, and lower tax and insurance
rates, began taking up residence in Oak Ridge North. United Diversified,
Incorporated, took over the development in 1969, and Associated Properties
Company, which added more acreage, became the chief developer in 1971. The
community was incorporated in 1979 with an estimated population of 2,445 and
elected a mayor and city council. By the late 1970s it had four churches. In
1994 it was served by four schools in the Conroe Independent School
District. The town's growth, however, was brought to a halt by the
energy-based regional recession of the 1980s, and in 1990 the population was
estimated as 2,454.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Montgomery County Genealogical Society, Montgomery County History
(Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Hunter, 1981). Barton A. Smith, The Role of
The Woodlands in the Economic Development of Montgomery County (MS, Special
Collections, Texas A&M University, 1990).
Charles Christopher Jackson
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Link to City
of Oak Ridge North
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