Texana Thursday: The Original College Station

A colorized, aerial view of Texas A&M in 1940. The original “college station” is in the foreground, next to the railroad tracks. (City of College Station photo.)

College Station gets its name from a post office that was built near the Texas A&M University campus when it was established in 1876. In that era, College Station’s closest neighbor was Bryan, only a few miles north by unpaved road.

The Southern Pacific Railroad, as well as the Houston and Texas Central Railway, ran through the area, and a train depot was built in 1883 in College Station.

Both the community and university have grown since then. College Station today has a population of about 117,000. The university has a student enrollment of about 69,000. Only a highway sign separates College Station from Bryan today.

The growth has provided tremendous opportunities for students and area residents.

The station and depot didn’t make it, though they live on in some old photographs.

A few years ago, I toured the Texas A&M University campus with a relative who had retired as a facilities director there. He attended and graduated from A&M in an era in which it was a much smaller place. In his era, A&M had an all-male student body and everyone was required to join the Corps of Cadets.

We were driving around the campus in his SUV. I said I had read about the depot and asked where it was.

“See that power transformer near the railroad tracks?” he asked.

I did.

“That’s where it was.”

The site is on Wellborn Road, near Old Main Drive, across from the Simpson Drill Field. It’s a short walk away from where the Aggies play football at Kyle Field.

The site has no historical marker, which is a pity because in its era, many Texas A&M students disembarked at the depot to begin their time at the university.