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n 1860, the extension of the railroad lines to
Millican led to the biggest boom Brazos County has ever
experienced. The county population quadrupled from 612
in 1850, to 2,776 in 1860. By 1861, the Civil War brought to a
halt almost all construction in Texas, and the railroad made its
terminus at Millican for the duration. By 1861, the county seat
of Boonville had been moved to Bryan, ready for the first
Houston and Texas Central train (H&TC), which arrived in
1867. The H&TC expanded northward through Hearne,
Corsicana and Dallas by 1872. (Brazos County History, Brundidge, 1986.)
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 a Houston and Texas Central
(H&TC) Railroad line which began in Southeast Texas and
extended through this area to its terminus in Bryan (5 mi.
north). Although no railroad depot existed here at the time of
Texas A&M's formal opening in 1876, H&TC made regular
stops here for incoming and outgoing college students and
faculty. H&TC railroad conductor announcements referring to
this stop as College Station gave rise to the name of the
surrounding community. H&TC constructed a new depot about
1900. The H&TC depots and another built by the International
& Great Northern (IGN) 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 Southern Pacific) and IGN (later
Missouri Pacific) maintained passenger service at this location
until 1959. In 1966 the last of the depot structures was razed.
(Text of Texas State Historic Marker, College Station Railroad Depots, 1993.)