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vrooooooom!
Navasota Lady's Tresses
Celebrating GraduationA Weekend of Wandering--College Station, Texas
"The President and the University"
College Station was founded by some of Stephen F. Austin's* original settlers around 1831, about ten years after establishing Bryan, Texas. These two towns have become sister towns and are referred to as Bryan-College Station.
As Bryan developed into a railway hub, College Station was pretty much a "wide spot in the road" as one of my guidebooks states. However, as Texas A & M grew, so did College Station and now it is known for having the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library on its campus, as well.
Texas A&M had a long-standing rivalry with the University of Texas at Austin. A tradition of erecting and lighting an enormous bonfire around Thanksgiving to symbolize the zeal of competition was kept going for ninety years. Then a tragedy occurred in 1999, when the burning pyre collapsed and killed 12 people and injured countless others. Now the tradition is no longer sanctioned by the school, but is carried on off campus.
There is a memorial on campus dedicated to those who lost their lives in this accident. It reminded me somewhat of Stonehenge. Finding a place to park nearby was difficult, but we were told there is a parking garage in this locale. We were only able to drive by this site, but we did see a portion of the memorial.
College Station can boast of an array of restaurants, stores and other necessary businesses that a university campus might want. Civilization has come to this university town....many times over!
*Stephen F. Austin is known as the Father of Texas (1793-1836)
