In the late 1970s, before its entertainment district and numerous dining options were established, The Woodlands offered little to its fledgling population in the way of retail and dining opportunities.

The first village center, longtime residents recall, was as distinctive as The Woodlands itself. The Wharf Shopping Mall was one of the first buildings constructed by The Woodlands Development Company. Situated on the shore of Lake Harrison in the Grogan's Mill Village Center, The Wharf became home to a variety of boutique shops, art studios and even an indoor ice rink.

"We went to Christmas shows there," said longtime Woodlands resident Martha Berlin Wittick of the ice rink where her young daughter took lessons. "We loved The Wharf area. You could get to the docks from the Grogan's Mill parking lot or bike over. It was so much fun to fish and take family pictures there—even celebrate Easter at a sunrise service on the docks."

Trinity Episcopal Church, one of the first congregations in The Woodlands, held its earliest services within in The Wharf. Members recall it as an interesting backdrop, deacon Bob Horner said, being both within the Glass Menagerie restaurant and in a storefront location adjacent to the skating rink.

Retired history teacher Jeff Gannon spent his first day as a resident of The Woodlands celebrating the nation's bicentennial in 1976 in a small-town atmosphere, he said.

The Wharf and its boutique shops are among his early memories of The Woodlands.

"It was quaint," he said. "They had everything from a candy store, an elegant jewelry store and an antique clock shop. Of course, the big draw was the ice rink."

The ice rink was an amenity that fit into a concept that included more than residents.

"The idea initially was to build a conference center with a world-class golf course that could attract the Houston Open, bringing in guests from outside the region —and that would help put The Woodlands on the map," said Robert Heineman, vice president of planning for The Woodlands Development Company. "The next thing was that the Village of Grogan's Mill needed a village center with a grocery store and other shops, and there were different options and opinions as to where that should go."

Ultimately, he said, it was decided to place the village center near the conference center and link the two, creating cross traffic of shared customers. The ice rink added a recreational element to the mix.

"There was also the idea of art studios," Heineman said. "I remember visiting the model, and it was a mixture of artists' studios and shops and recreation venues in a warehouse type of building, with old pine floors and exposed wood beams."

When The Wharf was created, the ice rink in the Galleria had opened only a few years earlier.

However, the hoped-for cross traffic between residents and conference center guests never really developed. In the mid-80s, the rink beloved by many avid residents closed.

"There were families who were really into ice skating, and they were very upset," Heineman said.

"The ice rink in the Galleria is an amenity that draws people to the Galleria, but the Galleria wasn't The Wharf. It was much larger and had a larger population base around it. You need a much bigger population to support that kind of attraction."

Meanwhile, the conference center quickly developed and expanded.

In 1996, The Wharf was renovated, and the facility's shops eventually closed. Today, the property is home to the Shell Learning Center.