On our tour of Texas, we had the opportunity to visit Bryan, Texas. The land around the town was originally part of the land grant given to Moses Austin by the Mexican government. Upon Moses' death, the land passed to his son, Stephen F. Austin.
The town was named for William Joel Bryan, Austin's nephew, when he donated the land for the town in 1859 due to the arrival of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. In 1866, it was voted as the county seat of Brazos County.
In 1892, the fourth courthouse was built. I found this photo on the internet. It's a beautiful structure. Unfortunately, in 1954, they (I assume the townspeople) decided it was too old fashioned and they demolished it only to rebuild a new one on the same site.
This is the "new" county courthouse. This is the only courthouse designed by this company. Personally, I find it boring. I liked the other courthouse better. The only thing that remains from the original courthouse is the cornerstone. I got this photo off the internet as well.
In 1902 the Carnegie Library of Bryan opened using funds donated by Andrew Carnegie. It is now the Carnegie History Center, open Mon - Fri 10 - 5. Unfortunately, we were here over a weekend and weren't able to go in.
In front of the library is this statue, which I think is pretty cool. It's called "Treasured Moments".
This was kind of the downtown Bryan Area. The red building with the green Howell Sign is the Howell building. It was built in 1904 by JW Howell for his wholesale grocery store. The upper floors were designed as office space with the top floor being home to the Brazos Cotton Exchange. The building was sold and the first floor housed a furniture store until the '70's. It was vacant for a while until it was purchased by another firm that added in the modern conveniences like air conditioning. The first floor is now a Mexican restaurant. The upper floors were restored to their original grandeur and the upper floor is an event space called The Cotton Exchange.
The LaSalle Hotel opened in 1929 as the tallest building in Bryan. Travelers coming from the train station, mere steps away, would stay here or stop in the coffee shop for a bit of refreshment. It was built by Robert Wistar Howell (son of JW Howell). In 1934, the hotel became a home for Civil War survivors. In 1959, it became a nursing home. In 1975, it was an apartment building and then in 1980, it closed. In 1997, the hotel was purchased and restored to it's original glory and has been a hotel since.
The Queen Theater has reopened (after this photo was taken). It originally opened in 1939 premiering the movie "Fifth Avenue Girl" starring Ginger Rogers. The theater was owned by Edna Schulman and was the first theater west of the Mississippi to have air conditioning. It was reopened by the Schulman family in 2023.
The Palace Theater. The building was originally the town's city hall. In 1929, it was purchased by Morris Schulman (of Queen Theater fame) and converted to a theater that had live shows and motion pictures. The theater was in business for fifty years when a storm hit the town and caused severe structural damage to the theater. The Schulman family reopened the theater in 2023 as an open air amphitheater. Another part of Bryan history saved!
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church was a church in nearby Millican, Texas in 1864. In 1867, wave of yellow fever swept through the town prompting the members to relocate to Bryan. The first service held in this building was in 1914.
The Historic Hotel Bryan building on Main Street. I am assuming that this hotel was built back in the late 1800's or early 1900's for travelers that came to town by train or even for travelers that brought their cotton to the Cotton Exchange. It's located on Main Street very close to where the train depot would have been. I'm also assuming that the hotel is no more. There's a barber shop and two finance companies in the lobby. I would assume office space upstairs if it's even open. I scoured the internet for information but wasn't able to find anything.
Bryan, Texas still has that small town feel. It has tons of history. It has a population of about 65K and its main employers are Texas A&M University, Bryan ISD and A&M Health Science. The average income is about $31K. They have your standard fast food chains and a TON of Mexican restaurants and they all look really good. There's also a couple of WalMarts, an HEB and a Kroger for grocery shopping.
And finally, it's close enough to College Station for any of your big chain restaurants. Bryan seems off the beaten path but it's part of the Texas Triangle (Austin, Houston, Bryan-College Station). It's the good life, Texas style!
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