By Colin Killian, Public Communications Manager
It says it right there in the tagline on College Station’s city logo:
The Home of Texas A&M University®
College Station is inextricably and forever linked to one of the nation’s most outstanding universities. We love those ties and wouldn’t change a thing. After all, College Station wouldn’t even exist without A&M.
Yet, for many folks, the story ends there. They can readily recite dozens of names, dates, and events that make A&M such a special and unique place. But what about the community that grew up around the campus?
College Station’s own rich and dynamic history has seen it grow from a humble little college town into a burgeoning mid-sized city of 125,000. A pair of well-researched books explore many of the people and events that helped shape College Station and guide its swift evolution into one of the nation’s best places to live.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 1938/1988 ($15)
By Deborah Lynn Balliew (1989)
Balliew’s touches on the area’s history long before Texas became a state and gains momentum with vivid descriptions of early settlers, the creation of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1871, and the community’s first off-campus subdivisions.
Most of the book provides an in-depth inspection of the city’s first 50 years from its incorporation in 1938 through 1988.
COLLEGE STATION: A RECENT HISTORY ($20)
By Tim Gregg (2019)
A sequel to Balliew’s work, Gregg picks up where she left off. His book has a different format and tone, though, relying on anecdotal stories that focus on extraordinary people, places, and events from 1988-2019.
These books make fantastic gifts and are ideal additions to your home library. You can purchase them from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays at the City Secretary’s Office at 1101 Texas Avenue.
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