College Station, Brazos County
In 1871 Texas governor Edmund Davis appointed three commissioners to select a site for the newly established Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M College). The commissioners chose this location in large part because of the existence of the Houston and Texas Central (H&TC) Railroad line which began in southeast Texas and extended through this area to Bryan (5 mi. north). Although no railroad depot existed here at the time of Texas A&M's formal opening in 1876, the H&TC made regular stops here for incoming and outgoing college students and faculty. H&TC railroad conductor announcements referring to to this stop as "College Station" gave rise to the name of the surrounding community. The H&TC Railroad constructed a depot at this site in 1883 which it replaced with a new depot about 1900. The H&TC depots and another built by the International & Great Northern (I&GN) Railroad just east of this site in 1900 were for many students who attended Texas A&M the first remembrance of their collegiate experience. Railroad depots owned by the H&TC (later named Southern Pacific) and I&GN (later named Missouri Pacific) maintained passenger service at this location until 1959. In 1966 the last of the depot structures was razed. (1993)