In 1871, there were three counties being considered for the future site of Texas A&M: Austin, Brazos and Grimes. Austin and San Antonio were linked only by stagecoach or horse travel, but the county of Brazos had a preexisting major thoroughfare, the Houston And Texas Central Railroad. This was a very important factor in the selection process, and Brazos County was chosen as the home for Texas A&M. On October 2, 1876 the college was officially opened to students. The campus, consisting of only two buildings, was placed along the railroad line on a very isolated and barren prairie four miles from the frontier town of Bryan.  For seven years there was only a rail and mail stop at the campus. The train conductor would yell to passengers “All out for College or College Station!” In 1883, the railroad built a depot for the campus, a very small Victorian structure. It was in use until around 1900 when Southern Pacific took over the Houston and Texas Central Railroad line, and a new, larger depot was constructed in the place of the 1883 depot. The original 1883 Victorian depot was moved onto the campus to become faculty housing.  The new 1900 depot was representational of the typical Southern Pacific architecture that was common during that time period with its long overhangs, high ceilings, depot yellow color, and brown trim. But the College Station was a little different than other depots. It had two bay windows, one on each side, because the train tracks actually ran on both sides of the depot. This allowed more train passenger cars to be brought to campus. This was very important for special events and football games at the college since train travel was the main mode of transportation. The depot was in view of the main building  (now the Academic Building) and was prominently located at the main entrance to campus and the community, which at the time was the west entrance. In the mid-1920s, the depot was renovated and elongated, but the most important architectural features and integrity of the original 1900 depot remained intact. 

“The importance of the railroad is difficult to ignore in a community named College Station.  For its first 50 years the entrance and its entire campus were oriented toward the rail station that eventually gave the community its name.”
  ~Dr. Donald H. Dyal
  Former Director Cushing Memorial Library, Texas A&M University

“On October 19, 1938 citizens voted 217 to 39 to incorporate the City of College Station, a community which had existed for more than sixty years.  The designated polling place, the Southern Pacific depot, added a symbolic touch to the election since the city derived its name from that of the railroad station.”
  ~Deborah Lynn Balliew
  College Station, Texas 1938-1988

The use of the automobile eventually replaced passenger train travel as a more convenient mode of transportation, and by 1958, the rail station was no longer in use.  The College Station Depot, one of the most historically important buildings to Texas A&M University and College Station, sat dormant until it was torn down and completely destroyed in 1966.

If the College Station depot still existed in its original location on the Texas A&M campus today, it would be adjacent to the Albritton Bell Tower on Wellborn Road, on the west side of the train tracks, and in view of the Academic Building.

The depot was more than a railroad structure that marked one’s arrival or departure from Aggieland.  It served as an important landmark and the first glimpse that all visitors and new residents had of Texas A&M and the surrounding community.  In some cases, it was their last view, as entire graduating classes boarded the trains to go to war during World War II, and some never to return. Yell practices were held there before away football games, and the entire Corps of Cadets would pass under the depot’s long overhangs to board the trains for Corps trips.  Anxious young cadets would meet their dates there as they arrived by train for football weekends, dances, and balls.  The depot was once the only connection to the outside world for the students, faculty, and community of Aggieland.  It truly holds a very special place in history. 

“The College Station depot was the first thing I saw when I got off the train at Aggieland to meet my date, Reuben. He was in the Corps of Cadets. We were quickly engaged and married on New Year’s Day, January 1, 1945. He was then shipped off to war and left from the very spot we had met.”
  ~Glenda Rieger Bond

After six years of research, planning, and development, Benjamin Knox brought the historic 1900 Southern Pacific College Station Depot back to life.  The original location of the depot was on Wellborn Road across from Albritton Tower because that was once the primary transportation route to the college.  Now, the main entrance to the city and Texas A&M is University Drive from Highway 6, so the depot was chosen to be placed here.