The Woodlands Information Center, on Woodlands Parkway just west of Six Pines Drive, serves as the gateway to The Woodlands for new residents and visitors. Manager Calleen McFerrin and the eight-member staff work to provide a wealth of information to those seeking just about any manner of information about The Woodlands.

"We feel like this is the best way to start looking around," McFerrin said.

The Information Center is as old as The Woodlands itself, opening in 1974, the same year the master-planned community first began offering homes for sale. Its original location was in the Grogan's Mill Village Center, which at the time served as the central hub of shopping and dining in The Woodlands, McFerrin said.

In 1996, the Information Center moved to its current location where the facility saw more than 28,000 visitors last year, McFerrin said. Most of the visitors were seeking information about Woodlands properties, such as homes, apartments, commercial or retail facilities, she said.

Others drop by looking for attractions, such as The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Market Street or even just a home address.

The highlight of the Information Center is a pair of 3D landscape models of the entire 28,000-acre Woodlands community and of Town Center. McFerrin provides a thorough run down to visitors of the community's amenities with each of the models, including villages, churches, schools, hike and bike paths, country clubs, model homes and medical facilities.

The Woodlands Information Center

2000 Woodlands Parkway, The Woodlands, 281-719-6333, www.thewoodlands.com/homefinder/center.html