The city of College Station is a relatively young Texas city that has sprung up due to the creation of Texas' first state college - Texas A&M College.  Founded in 1876, the college became the center of College Station very quickly.  There was little around the rural college town at the time, so housing and other accommodations for students and staff were provided by the school, centralizing the campus even more.

The name, College Station, actually came about a year later because of the postal service.  The town became known as College Station, TX in 1877 because of the local train station, and the name stuck very clearly and defined College Station as separate from Bryan, TX, its sister city.

The fast growth Texas A&M provided for the city, and the recognition from the postal service soon left the city yearning for more, a local government.  In 1938, the City of College Station became recognized after a petition, created by 23 men representing the college and communal interests of the city, was presented to and passed by the Texas A&M Board of Directors. They suggested that with the incorporation of College Station, that the surrounding lands be incorporated as well for the further development of the city in the future.  The most interesting point about this time in College Station history was that at the same time all of this was happening, the City of Bryan was actually trying to annex this same land. Bryan failed to incorporate the land, however, because of the statute of limitations set forth by the State of Texas limiting the amount of land a city can annex in a single year.  Without this statute, what is known as College Station today may have actual been part of a larger Bryan!  The City of College Station was incorporated after a citywide vote later that year.

College Station and Texas A&M became known as a military town very quickly with its large Corp of Cadets and history of strong military service.  During World War II, Texas A&M had more students volunteer for military service than any other institution of higher learning in the United States.

Following WWII, College Station continued to grow as Texas A&M became a research institution.  It began accepting students that were not in the Corp, and shortly afterwards it became a state University.  With the university status, Texas A&M made one of its biggest changes with the acceptance of female students.

As the changes at the university happened, College Station grew faster and faster around the campus, and with the growth came businesses, an established City Government, and the College Station that we know today.

Sources:

-City of College Station Government Site
-Texas A&M University Site