See the evolution of College Station, Texas A&M in vintage photos

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By Craig Hlavaty, Chron.com / Houston Chronicle

Published 2:53 pm, Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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Caption

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PHOTOS: Historic photos of College Station

The population sign in College Station, circa 1930. These days the population is estimated to be just over 100,000 people.

Click through to see more historic photos from College Station and Texas A&M…

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PHOTOS: Historic photos of College Station

The population sign in College Station, circa 1930. These days the population is estimated to be just over 100,000 people.

Click through to see more historic photos

… more

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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CIRCA 1920: The Texas A&M drill field.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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CIRCA 1920: Northgate in the 1920s.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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CIRCA 1925: An aerial of College Station and the Texas A&M area.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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CIRCA 1932: An aerial view of the Texas A&M campus.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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CIRCA 1935: An aerial view of the Texas A&M campus.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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CIRCA 1943: Dean E. J. Kyle of the School of Agriculture at Texas A&M, the namesake of Kyle Field. He graduated from the school in 1899.

Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Reveille I gained her name from howling along with the corps bugler as he awoke the cadets with reveille. She was a mongrel rescued from the roadside in the early 1930s. She died in January 1944, and received a formal military funeral. less

Photo: The Battalion

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CIRCA 1949: Texas A&M ROTC Cadet Corps standing in formation.

Photo: Frank Scherschel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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CIRCA 1949: Texas A&M ROTC Cadet Corps standing in formation.

Photo: Frank Scherschel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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CIRCA 1949: Texas A&M ROTC Cadet Corps Military Ball, early good night is said after ball by five girls who had to be in by 1:00 a.m.

Photo: Frank Scherschel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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CIRCA 1955: John David Crow #44 running back of the Texas A&M Aggies runs the ball up field at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

Photo: Collegiate Images/Collegiate Images/Getty Images

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CIRCA 1956: Crowd yelling and whooping it up in the stands at the Texas A&M vs Villanova football game.

Photo: Joseph Scherschel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image

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Texas A&M football coach Paul Bryant (‘Bear Bryant’) smokes a cigarette as he watches from the sidelines during a game against Villanova at College Station, Texas, September 22, 1956.

Photo: Joseph Scherschel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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CIRCA 1956: Young ladies yelling from the stands at the Texas A&M vs Villanova football game.

Photo: Joseph Scherschel/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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CIRCA 1955-57: John David Crow #44 running back of the Texas A&M Aggies runs the ball up field at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

Photo: Collegiate Images/Collegiate Images/Getty Images

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CIRCA 1968: An aerial view of the Texas A&M campus.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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CIRCA 1972: Rick Perry at Texas A&M.

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CIRCA 1972: Rick Perry as a Texas A&M Yell Leader.

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Willie Nelson thrills a young crowd 40,000 strong as he opens his ‘July 4th Picnic’ in 1974 in College Station. This was the festival where a fire famously destroyed Robert Earl Keen’s car.

Photo: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

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CIRCA 1974: Lots of bars in Texas have the same essential DNA as the Dixie Chicken, but few of those bars can say that both John McCain and the president of Panama have eaten under the same roof where Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett once swapped songs. less

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Race car driver A.J. Foyt waits in the pit at the 1976 Texas 500 stock car race at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. Foyt came in first after leading 158 laps in the 250-lap (500 miles) race.

Photo: Shelby Hodge, HP Staff

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CIRCA 1979: An aerial view of the Texas A&M campus.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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February 1983: UH Cougar Clyde Drexler goes over Tyren Naulls, of Texas A&M, for a slam dunk in College Station.

Photo: Timothy Bullard, HC Staff

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CIRCA 1984: An aerial view of the Texas A&M campus.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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Senior Yell Leaders Rick Hamilton (1989), Steve Keathley (1989) and Ronnie Bolton (1989) with Reveille sing the Spirit of Aggieland at the 1988 Texas A&M football team.

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CIRCA 1995: Northgate as seen in the mid-90s.

Photo: Project HOLD / City Of College Station

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September 28, 1996: A general view of Kyle Field during game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Univeristy of Colorado Buffaloes in College Station, Texas. The University of Colorado won the game 24-10.

Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

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Linebacker Dat Nguyen #9 of the Texas A&M Aggies gestures during a 1998 game against the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. The Aggies defeated the Tigers 17-14.

Photo: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

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Texas Governor George W. Bush (L) and his father, former President George Bush, attend the Bush Library opening November 21, 1999 in College Station, Texas.

Photo: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

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Students watch as emergency workers continue into the evening removing logs from the bonfire accident site. Nine Texas A&M students were confirmed dead by nightfall, Thursday Nov. 18, 1999 in College Station. A total of 12 were killed and another 27 were injured. less

Photo: SMILEY N. POOL, Houston Chronicle

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Ross Volunteers fire off the third round of a 21-gun salute during the Silver Taps ceremony in front of the Academic Building at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas Tuesday night, Dec. 7, 1999. The volunteers and students gathered at the plaza to honor the students who were killed in the Nov. 18 bonfire collapse. less

Photo: JP BEATO, AP

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CIRCA 2005: Lemoine Knox, 20, encourages her hometown friend Tina Hall, 22, of Coleman Texas, to finish drinking her ‘chugger’ where Tina dunked her graduation ring at the popular Dixie Chicken in College Station. less

Photo: Mayra Beltran, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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CIRCA 2010: Texas A&M defensive end Von Miller (40) forces Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III to lose control of the ball.

Photo: Julio Cortez, Chronicle

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Johnny Manziel #2 of Texas A&M Aggies waits near the bench in the fourth quarter during the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Kyle Field on September 14, 2013 in College Station, Texas.

Photo: Scott Halleran/Getty Images

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Click through the slideshow above to see historic photos of College Station and the Texas A&M campus…

This weekend the population of College Station and Texas A&M will temporarily balloon as the Aggies take the field for their annual spring football game.

The A&M spring game, meant to show off the coming season’s football team months before they take on other college squads, will be held on Saturday, April 8 at Kyle Field, the historic, but recently-renovated stadium which dates back to 1904.

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The event is a big component of the annual Texas A&M Family Weekend, which features a whole weekend of special programming for students and their families.

It’s a chance for families, many made up of several generations of Aggie alumni, to explore an ever-evolving campus and city that has grown by leaps and bounds through the decades.

Just check out some of the aerial photos in the slideshow above. What was once a sleepy college town next to a railroad stop is now one of the most happening cities in the state of Texas.

SCHOOL HISTORY: The traditions, secrets and myths of Texas A&M University

Back in the early 1930s the population of the town was just around 3,000. These days its just over 100,000 and climbing. An abundance of jobs, nice people and developing neighborhoods are helping bring in more residents.

Some College Station locals think that the school joining the Southeastern Conference back in 2012 has also had something to do with the growth.

The various research endeavors going on at the school’s laboratories and classrooms also means the city is quite an intellectual hub.

AGGIE NATION: College Station actually tops list of ‘most exciting cities in Texas’ (no, really …)

College Station routinely makes great showings on various national lists of the best college towns in the country.

The city of College Station keeps a trophy case of sorts online where it collects the various accolades and rankings that the city has accumulated since this recent explosion of growth began around 2009.

Maybe some of those parents coming to see their little Aggies in their college habitat should look around for a retirement home. It wasn’t too long ago that College Station was named by USA Today and Forbes one of the best places to retire in the country.