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 640 acres (2.6 km2) to Robert Rankin, an American Revolutionary officer.

[5] 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.

Parker's son and deputy, Gary, was convicted in 1984 of conspiracy to violate suspects' rights.

[7] Houston, the fifth largest metropolitan center in the United States, is approximately 55 miles (89 km) to Coldspring's south.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2), all land.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 819 people, 387 households, and 197 families residing in the city.