Editing College Station, Texas (section)

=={{anchor|Historical events}} History==
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College Station's origins date from 1860, when the [[Houston and Texas Central Railway]] began to build through the region.<ref name=TSHA>{{cite web| title=College Station, Texas| first=Mark| last=Odintz| publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]]| url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hdc02| access-date=June 15, 2008}}</ref> Eleven years later, the site was chosen as the location for the proposed Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, a land-grant school.<ref name="TSHA" /> In 1876, as the nation celebrated its [[centennial]], the school (renamed [[Texas A&M University]] in 1963) opened its doors as the first public institution of higher education in the state of Texas.<ref name="TSHA" />

College Station's population grew slowly, reaching 350 in 1884 and 391 at the turn of the century.<ref name="TSHA" /> However, during this time, transportation improvements took place in the town. In 1900, the [[International–Great Northern Railroad|I&GN]] Railroad was extended to College Station<ref>{{cite web| title=A Guide to Historic Brazos County| publisher=Brazos Heritage Society| year=2003| page=25| url=http://www.brazosheritage.org/pdfs/historicbrazosbrochure.pdf| access-date= June 15, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080626162050/http://www.brazosheritage.org/pdfs/historicbrazosbrochure.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = June 26, 2008}}</ref> (the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] Company abandoned the line in 1965),<ref>{{cite web| title= International-Great Northern Railroad| first=George C.| last=Werner| publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]]| url= https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqi04| access-date=June 15, 2008}}</ref> and 10 years later, electric [[interurban]] service was established between Texas A&M and the neighboring town of Bryan.<ref name="TSHA" /> A city bus system replaced the interurban in the 1920s.<ref name="TSHA" />

In 1930, the community to the north of College Station, known as North Oakwood, was incorporated as part of Bryan.<ref name="TSHA" /> College Station did not incorporate until October 19, 1938, after a 217-39 vote,<ref>{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Jessica|url= https://blog.cstx.gov/2023/10/02/how-you-can-help-make-college-stations-85th-birthday-bash-on-oct-18-a-night-to-remember/|title=How you can help make College Station's 85th birthday bash on Oct. 18 a night to remember|date=October 2, 2023|website=City of College Station|access-date=October 19, 2023}}</ref> with John H. Binney as the first mayor.<ref name="TSHA" /> Within a year, the city established a [[zoning]] commission, and by 1940, the population had reached 2,184.<ref name="TSHA" />

The city grew under the leadership of Ernest Langford, called by some the "Father of College Station", who began a 26-year stretch as mayor in 1942. Early in his first term, the city adopted a council-manager system of city government.<ref name="TSHA" />

Population growth accelerated following [[World War II]] as the nonstudent population reached 7,898 in 1950, 11,396 in 1960, 17,676 in 1970, 30,449 in 1980, 52,456 in 1990, and 67,890 in 2000.<ref name="TSHA" /> The Bryan-College Station metropolitan area's population crossed 270,000 people in 2018.

In the 1990s, College Station and Texas A&M University drew national attention when the [[George Bush Presidential Library]] opened in 1997. Attention was drawn again in 1999, when 12 people were killed and 27 injured when the [[Aggie Bonfire]] [[1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse|collapsed while being constructed]].

In 2022, it became one of the first areas served by [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]'s [[Amazon Prime Air|Prime Air]] drone delivery service, along with [[Lockeford, California]].