A&M College Consolidated Rural School

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's how this particular piece of Texas came to be. Back in 1909, the state of Texas granted a charter for an independent school district to encompass the Texas A&M College campus. Now, there was just one small problem.

There weren't enough students in the district to support a school. Could've been the end of the story right there. But two men weren't ready to let it end.

A&M president William Bizzell and professor Martin Hayes, head of the department of vocational teaching, went to work. They persuaded the leaders of three surrounding common school districts to send their students to a brand new school, one that would sit right there on the college campus. That took some convincing, you can be sure of that.

But it worked. The new school opened in 1920, and when it did, it opened with 304 students. Three hundred and four.

Not bad for a school that almost never happened. A&M College backed it up too, providing funding for buildings, teacher salaries, furniture, and equipment. The thing became a model for rural schools in the area.

A genuine model. And by 1928, the surrounding school districts made it official, dissolved, and merged with the A&M College Consolidated Independent School District. Things were going so well, in fact, that by 1938 the school facilities had become overcrowded.

A victim of its own success. The college, though, was not able to increase its contributions to the institution. So in 1940, the school moved off the A&M campus.

And with that move came something new: the genesis of the College Station Independent School District. Two men, a conversation, three school districts, and a little overcrowding. That's all it took.

What the marker says

The state of Texas granted a charter for an independent school district to encompass the Texas A&M College campus in 1909. Because there was not a sufficient number of students in the district to support a school, A&M president William Bizzell and professor Martin Hayes, head of the department of vocational teaching, persuaded the leaders of three surrounding common school districts to send their students to a new school to be located on the college campus. The new school opened in 1920 with 304 students. It was supported by A&M college with funding for buildings, teacher salaries, furniture, and equipment. It became a model for rural schools in the area, and by 1928 the surrounding school districts officially dissolved and merged with A&M College Consolidated Independent School District. By 1938 the school facilities had become overcrowded. Because the college was not able to increase its contributions to the institution, the school moved off of the A&M campus in 1940. With the move came the genesis of the College Station Independent School District.