College Station

College Station, the home of Texas A&M University, is located just south of Bryan in southwest central Brazos County, and is crossed by State Highway 6, Farm roads 2154, 2347, 2818 and 60, and the Southern Pacific Railroad. Bryan and College Station adjoin to form the urban heart of Brazos County. The Houston and Texas Central Railway built through the area in 1860. In 1871 the site was chosen as the location of the proposed Texas A&M College, which opened in 1876. In 1877 a post office, College Station, was opened in a building near the railroad tracks, and the community took its name from the post office. A railroad depot was constructed in 1883; By 1884 the community had 350 inhabitants and two general stores. Faculty members generally lived on campus in housing provided by the university. College Station received electrical service in the 1890s; the population was 391 in 1900.

One of many electric interurban railways in Texas was established between Bryan and College Station in 1910, and over the next ten years the area just north of the campus developed as a business district. The interurban was replaced by a bus system in the 1920s. Children from the community attended school in neighboring school districts until 1920, when the A&M Consolidated School was established by the college to enhance its teacher-education programs. In the 1920s and 1930s, as the college grew, the community built in all directions. In the early 1930s the North Oakwood subdivision, at the northern end of College Station, voted to incorporate with Bryan.