Roads of Aggieland

There’s a lot of Texas A&M University history recorded in the roadways of campus and Bryan-College Station.

Local historians Bill Page ’76 and Henry Mayo ’85 helped provide the namesakes of nearly every campus street, many local road names with Aggie connections and some major roads that were just plain interesting.

Quick links to the sections below are here: Alphabetical list of campus street names ¦ Off-campus roads ¦ A&M leaders ¦ Aggie sports  ¦ Oldest campus streets ¦ Campus locations ¦ Bush family ¦ Aggie Band directors ¦ Southside’s ‘cow streets’ ¦ Eastgate neighborhoods ¦ Good bull ¦ Villa Maria and landmark names.

“Campus streets — such as they were — apparently weren't formally named until after 1900, when most of them were named after presidents of the Republic or Texas governors,” said Page, a program coordinator at the Texas A&M University Libraries.

Around the county, Mayo said, “Many of the streets were named after local landowners, political leaders and early county places and landmarks.” 

Mayo chairs the Brazos County Historical Commission, and as land surveyors, he and his father, David R. Mayo ’58, amassed knowledge about the naming of many residential streets in Bryan-College Station.

Mayo and Page knew many of the roads’ history off the top of their heads, and also acted as guides to local history collections such as College Station’s Project HOLD (Historic Online Library Database), historic county locations and city research on street names.

Eric Irwin ’89, Geographic Information System manager at Texas A&M, also helped with many of the modern campus street names.

Off-campus names linked to Texas A&M

Many roadways around Texas A&M have connections to the school in some form:

• Harvey Mitchell Parkway (College Station) — Part of FM 2818 is named for Col. Harvey Mitchell, who secured the land deal that persuaded the Texas legislature to locate the A&M College just south of Bryan. Mitchell came from Tennessee to Texas in 1839, settling in 1840 in what became Brazos County.
• Harvey Road (College Station) — This street also owes its name to Mitchell, as it leads to the nearby community of Harvey, named for him.
• Finfeather Road (Bryan) — The road and nearby lake are named for a club once owned by an Aggie. The Fin-Feather Club began circa 1900 as a private club for local fishermen; it survived until the 1950s, and by the late 1940s, it had become a dining and dancing establishment owned by Pete Slaughter ’44.
• F&B Road (College Station) — It passes the site of Texas A&M’s former “Feeding and Breeding Station,” established in 1912 as part of the Agricultural Experiment Station.
• University Drive (College Station) – Formerly called Sulphur Springs Road, this part of FM 60 was renamed University Drive in 1968, five years after the school changed its name from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas to Texas A&M University.

College Avenue, College Main Street, College View Drive and Old College Road all derive their names from the fact that before the city of College Station existed, local residents used to refer to the campus area generally as “over at College.”

The area around Bryan was first settled in the 1820s and 1830s, and Texas A&M opened in 1876, but there was no town around the college. Slowly, residences and businesses accumulated near campus, and the city of College Station incorporated in 1938, named after the college’s train depot.

College Main Street, which runs through the middle of today’s Northgate district, was once a major entrance to campus. Nearby, Old College Road is not too far off the route where a trolley used to carry passengers between campus and Bryan from 1910 to 1923.

Texas A&M leaders and former students

Many of Brazos County’s larger roads are named for Aggies:

• Earl Rudder Freeway (Bryan-College Station) — Twelve miles of Texas’ Highway 6 were named in 2013 for former Texas A&M president Maj. Gen. James Earl Rudder ’32.
• John Sharp Parkway (Bryan) — Part of Highway 47 near the RELLIS campus was named in 2022 for Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp ’72.
• William D. Fitch Parkway (College Station) — In 2006, parts of Highway 40 and Greens Prairie Road were named for builder and developer William Fitch ’42, who from 1947 through the 1980s built homes and developed many College Station neighborhoods, donated land for Bee Creek Park and served on the city council. (Treehouse Trail in College Station was named for his children’s treehouse; nearby Brothers Boulevard and Brothers Pond Park are named for his sons.)
• Raymond Stotzer Parkway (College Station) — Part of FM 60 southwest of Wellborn Road is named for Aggie engineer Raymond Stotzer ’46, who worked for the Texas Highway Department and led the construction of Texas’ longest bridge, the Queen Isabella Causeway from Port Isabel to South Padre Island.
• Holleman Drive (College Station) — Theo R. "Nikkie" Holleman ’39 taught architecture at A&M and was on the College Station city council.

More Aggies and Texas A&M officials are honored on and off campus:

• Adriance Lab Road (west campus) – The road runs in front of the Adriance Laboratory building; this was established as a horticultural lab in 1956 and named for Guy W. Adriance, head of the Department of Horticulture from 1920 to 1961.
• Asbury Street (main campus) – Likely named for S.E. Asbury, state chemist who worked for Texas A&M’s Agricultural Experiment Station from 1904 to 1945.
• Bizzell Street (main campus) – Named for Texas A&M’s ninth president, William B. Bizzell.
• Corrington Drive (west campus) – This street between the Student Rec Center and the West Campus Garage is named for Dennis Corrington, director of recreational sports at Texas A&M for 45 years, 1973-2018.
• Hensel Drive (College Station) — The street and Hensel Park are named after Frederick W. “Fritz” Hensel, Class of 1907, head of Texas A&M’s landscape arts department 1926-49. In 1955, The Battalion credited him with designing all the entrances to campus and with placing an oak tree around Simpson Drill Field for each Aggie killed in World War I.
• Charles W. Graham ’53 Boulevard (west campus) – This road serving as the entrance to the Hildebrand Equine Complex is named for a Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus. “Doc” Graham is one of the world’s top equine vets.
• Lewis Street (main campus) – Possibly named for Dr. R.D. Lewis, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station from 1946 to 1962.
• Mosher Lane (main campus) – This short street is behind the dorm named for Edward J. Mosher, Class of 1928, who played football at Texas A&M and later chaired a steel company.
• Nagle Street (main campus) – Another short street, this one next to Heldenfels, it’s likely named after the same professor as nearby Nagle Hall (built in 1909): James C. Nagle, who in 1911 became the first dean of Texas A&M’s School of Engineering.
• Sippel Road (west campus) – William Sippel was executive director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory from 1969 to 1980.
• Spence Street (main campus) – Likely named for former Texas A&M engineering dean David W. Spence, for whom two other sites are named: Spence Park, situated in front of the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center, and Spence Hall (Corps dorm 1).
• Turk Road (west campus) – Likely named for veterinary parasitologist Dr. R.D. Turk, who worked 35 years for Texas A&M.

Aggie sports connections

Texas A&M football, baseball and intramurals are honored in a number of campus street names:

• Gene Stallings Boulevard (main campus) — Legendary Texas A&M football coach Gene Stallings ’57 played offense and defense for the Aggies and is one of the famed “Junction Boys” who made it through training camp in the Texas Hill Country. As head coach 1965-71, he led the Aggies to a Southwest Conference championship. Stallings Drive near campus is also named for him.
• Joe Routt Boulevard (main campus) — Capt. Joe Routt ’37 was Texas A&M’s football captain and first All-American player (defensive lineman). In World War II’, he took over leadership of his unit after the commanding officer’s death and was killed while leading a counterattack; he received the Bronze Star.
• John David Crow Drive (main campus) — Texas A&M’s first Heisman Trophy winner, John David Crow ’58, was a running back and defensive player for A&M. He spent 11 seasons in the NFL, later becoming Texas A&M’s athletic director 1983-93 and director of athletic development 1993-2001.
• John Kimbrough Boulevard (west campus) — The first Aggie in the College Football Hall of Fame, John Kimbrough ’41 was a Heisman nominee and All-American fullback who played for the Aggies’ 1939 national championship team, served in World War II and was a state representative and rancher.
• Tom Chandler Road (west campus) – Tom Chandler coached Aggie baseball from 1959 to 1984, notching five Southwest Conference championships.
• Olsen Boulevard (west campus) — C.E. “Pat” Olsen, Class of 1923, was a standout Aggie pitcher who played two years for the New York Yankees organization. He helped Texas A&M design its new baseball field in 1978, and it was named Olsen Field for him.
• Penberthy Road (west campus) — Walter L. “Penny” Penberthy was hired by Texas A&M in 1926 to develop the program that became Aggie intramural sports; he became the first head of the physical education program in 1937, and served in teaching and administrative positions for 40 years.

Off campus but pointed directly toward Kyle Field and Olsen Field (Blue Bell Park) is College Station’s Marion Pugh Drive, named for quarterback Marion Pugh ’41. Pugh led Texas A&M’s 1939 national championship team, played in the NFL, then served as a tank destroyer officer in World War II.

Oldest campus streets: presidents and governors

Houston Street, Jones Street and Lamar Street on main campus were named for presidents of the Republic of Texas: Sam Houston, Anson Jones and Mirabeau B. Lamar.

Governors honored by campus street names include Sam Houston again (he served as governor after having served twice as the Republic’s president), as well as Richard Coke, James Stephen Hogg, John Ireland, Francis R. Lubbock, Lawrence Sullivan Ross and James W. Throckmorton.

Campus locations and geography

On main campus, both New Main Drive and Old Main Drive point toward the site of the “Old Main” building that burned in 1912 and was replaced by the Academic Building in 1914. Old Main Drive was the main entrance to campus until the early 1930s, when Texas A&M built the Administration Building and flipped the orientation of campus from facing west to east.

West campus, with its emphasis on research and agriculture, has a range of self-explanatory names: Agronomy Road, Discovery Drive, Enterprise Avenue, Horticulture Road, Research Parkway, Technology Loop, Veted Drive (for veterinary education) and Mariner Drive (between the International Ocean Discovery Program Building and the Offshore Technology Research Center).

More:

• Polo Road (main campus) — This street and the Polo Road Garage are on the former polo fields, where the Bonfire Memorial also stands. Aggie students played polo at various other sites in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s; when the current Texas A&M Polo Club was founded in 1968, it received permission to use the northeast corner of campus, from Bizzell Street to Texas Avenue.
• Short Street (main campus) — This road behind the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center is only a few yards long.

Bush family

George Bush Drive (College Station) – In support of the effort to draw the presidential library of George H.W. Bush to Texas A&M, College Station renamed Jersey Street, along the south edge of campus, to George Bush Drive in 1989. The library’s location was agreed on in 1991.

Barbara Bush Drive (west campus) – The road that curves from George Bush Drive to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is named for former first lady Barbara Pierce Bush.

Lot 41 and Lot 43, the campus parking lots at the Bush library, are a nod to the 41st and 43rd U.S. presidents (George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush).

Bryan’s nod to Aggie Band directors

Among many names in Bryan with Aggie connections, there is an area with an Aggie Band theme, west of Texas Avenue and south of Villa Maria Road. Holick Lane is named for the first director of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, Joseph Holick, with Gilbert and Helena streets named for two of his children. Day Avenue and Dunn Street are named for two more Aggie Band directors: Bradford Pier Day and Col. Richard J. Dunn. Nearby, Moran Street is named for Charley Moran, Texas A&M’s head football coach 1909-14, and Cavitt Avenue honors W.R. Cavitt, a former member of Texas A&M’s board of directors.

Southside: College Station’s ‘cow streets’

The first officially developed neighborhood in what is now College Station was founded just south of campus in 1921 by five members of Texas A&M’s faculty and staff; it was first called College Park and is now part of the Southside Historic District. Nine of its streets were named for cattle breeds: Aberdeen, Angus, Ayrshire, Dexter, Guernsey, Hereford, Jersey (later renamed George Bush Drive, though an Old Jersey Street remains), Kerry and Welsh.

Eastgate: College Hills neighborhoods

Just east of campus lies another of College Station’s oldest neighborhoods. The first part of the College Hills area was laid out in the 1940s, and many streets are named for Texas A&M leaders, including past college presidents Gibb Gilchrist, Thomas O. Walton, Charles Puryear, Robert T. Milner, Henry H. Harrington and Lafayette L. Foster. Other streets honor Texas A&M’s first dean of veterinary medicine, Mark Francis; civil engineering professor Thurmond Munson; and E.J. Kyle, Class of 1899, dean of agriculture and Kyle Field namesake. Nearby, Stallings Drive is named for former Aggie football player and coach Gene Stallings ’57, like Gene Stallings Boulevard on campus. (Dominik Drive is named for a family that owned land in the area.)

Not historic, but still good bull

• 12^th Man Circle (College Station) — A short street in the Pebble Creek neighborhood is named in honor of the Aggie tradition.
• Aggie Way (Bryan) — The Angels’ Gate neighborhood has this nod to Texas A&M.
• Reveille Road ­(College Station) — The queen of Aggieland is the namesake for a loop in the Aggie Acres subdivision.

Off-campus locations and geography

Not Aggie-related, but familiar to many modern-day Aggies are these well-traveled streets:

• Villa Maria Road (Bryan) – From 1901 to 1929, Ursuline nuns from Galveston operated a Catholic girls’ school named the Villa Maria Academy in Bryan. The large Gothic structure was torn down in the 1930s. “Villa Maria” is Latin for “house of Mary,” which may explain the local pronunciation, in which “Villa” is sounded out more like the Italian word than the Spanish word.
• Like Harvey Road, many Brazos County streets are named for towns, old communities and ghost towns they lead to or pass through, including Wellborn Road, Boonville Road (Boonville was the first county seat of Brazos County), Old Reliance Road (the community of Reliance was settled in the 1850s), Rock Prairie Road and Greens Prairie Road (Rock Prairie and Green’s Prairie were also early settlements). Barron Road was on the land of the Barron family, who settled in 1869 in the area that would become College Station.

Alphabetical list of campus street names

This list includes many of the streets above, but also others that appear on the official online campus map.

• Adriance Lab Road (west campus) – The road runs in front of the Adriance Laboratory building; this was established as a horticultural lab in 1956 and named for Guy W. Adriance, head of the Department of Horticulture from 1920 to 1961.
• Agronomy Road (west campus) – This name comes “from back when the only thing out there was agronomy fields,” said Eric Irwin ’89, GIS (Geographic Information System) manager at Texas A&M.
• Asbury Street (main campus) – Likely named for S.E. Asbury, state chemist who worked for Texas A&M’s Agricultural Experiment Station from 1904 to 1945.
• Barbara Bush Drive (west campus) – The road that curves from George Bush Drive to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is named for former first lady Barbara Pierce Bush.
• Bizzell Street (main campus) – Named for Texas A&M’s ninth president, William B. Bizzell.
• Coke Street (main campus) – Richard Coke was the 15th governor of Texas, serving 1874-76.
• Corrington Drive (west campus) – This street between the Student Rec Center and the West Campus Garage is named for Dennis Corrington, director of recreational sports at Texas A&M for 45 years, 1973-2018.
• Discovery Drive (west campus) – One of the street names related to the purposes of Texas A&M’s west campus; this road was part of the original plans when Research Park was established (1982), according to Irwin.
• Dr. Charles W. Graham ’53 Boulevard (west campus) – This road serving as the entrance to the Hildebrand Equine Complex is named for a Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus. “Doc” Graham is one of the world’s top equine vets.
• Enterprise Avenue (west campus) – One of the street names related to the purposes of Texas A&M’s west campus; this road was part of the original plans when Research Park was established (1982), according to Irwin.
• Gene Stallings Boulevard (main campus) — Legendary Texas A&M football coach Gene Stallings ’57 played offense and defense for the Aggies and was one of the famed “Junction Boys” who made it through training camp in the Texas Hill Country. As head coach 1965-71, he led the Aggies to a Southwest Conference championship. Stallings Drivenear campus is also named for him.
• Hogg Street (main campus) – James Stephen Hogg was the 20^th governor of Texas, serving 1891-95.
• Horticulture Road (west campus) – One of the street names related to the purposes of Texas A&M’s west campus.
• Houston Street (main campus) – Sam Houston was a general in the Texas Revolution, the first and third president of the Republic of Texas (1836-38; 1841-44) and governor of Texas (1859-61).
• Ireland Street (main campus) – John Ireland was the 18^th governor of Texas, serving 1883-87.
• Joe Routt Boulevard (main campus) — Capt. Joe Routt ’37 was Texas A&M’s football captain and first All-American player (defensive lineman). In World War II’s Battle of the Bulge, he took over leadership of his unit after the commanding officer’s death and was killed while leading a counterattack; he received the Bronze Star.
• John David Crow Drive (main campus) — Texas A&M’s first Heisman Trophy winner, John David Crow ’58, was a running back and defensive player for A&M. He spent 11 seasons in the NFL, later becoming Texas A&M’s athletic director 1983-93 and director of athletic development 1993-2001.
• John Kimbrough Boulevard (west campus) — The first Aggie in the College Football Hall of Fame, John Kimbrough ’41 was a Heisman nominee and All-American fullback who played for the Aggies’ 1939 national championship team, served in World War II and was a state representative and rancher.
• Jones Street (main campus) – Anson Jones was the fifth and last president of the Republic of Texas, serving 1844-46.
• Lamar Street (main campus) – Mirabeau B. Lamar was the third president of the Republic of Texas, serving 1838-41.
• Lewis Street (main campus) – Possibly named for Dr. R.D. Lewis, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station from 1946 to 1962.
• Lubbock Street (main campus) – Francis R. Lubbock was the ninth governor of Texas, serving 1861-63.
• Mariner Drive (west campus) – This street runs between the International Ocean Discovery Program Building and the Offshore Technology Research Center.
• Mosher Lane (main campus) – This short street is behind the dorm named for Edward J. Mosher, Class of 1928, who played football at Texas A&M and later chaired a steel company.
• MSRB Drive (west campus) – Goes to the Multi-Species Research Building.
• Nagle Street (main campus) – Another short street, this one next to Heldenfels, it’s likely named after the same professor as nearby Nagle Hall (built in 1909): James C. Nagle, who in 1911 became the first dean of Texas A&M’s School of Engineering.
• New Main Drive (main campus) — This road leading to the Administration Building was constructed as the new main entrance to campus in the early 1930s when Texas A&M flipped its orientation from facing west to facing east.
• New Street (main campus) — This tiny street was built as part of the plans for the Northside Parking Garage, constructed in 1988. “For a while, it was just ‘that new street’ until it became official,” said Eric Irwin ’89, GIS (Geographic Information System) manager at Texas A&M.
• Old Main Drive (main campus) — This road originally led to the “Old Main” building, the first building at Texas A&M, which burned in 1912 and was replaced by the Academic Building, built in 1914.
• Olsen Boulevard (west campus) — C.E. “Pat” Olsen, Class of 1923, was a standout Aggie pitcher who went on to play for the New York Yankees. Texas A&M built a new baseball field in 1978 and named it for him.
• Penberthy Road (west campus) — Walter L. “Penny” Penberthy was hired by Texas A&M in 1926 to develop the program that became Aggie intramural sports; he became the first head of the physical education program in 1937, and served in teaching and administrative positions for 40 years.
• Polo Road (main campus) — This street and the Polo Road Garage are on the former polo fields, where the Bonfire Memorial also stands. Aggie students played polo at various other sites in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s; when the current Texas A&M Polo Club was founded in 1968, it received permission to use the northeast corner of campus, from Bizzell Street to Texas Avenue.
• Research Parkway (west campus) – One of the street names related to the purposes of Texas A&M’s west campus; this road was part of the original plans when Research Park was established (1982), according to Irwin.
• Ross Street (main campus) – Before he served as president of Texas A&M (1890-98), Lawrence Sullivan Ross was the 19^th governor of Texas (1887-91). The official dates given for his term as governor (1887-91) and A&M president (1890-98) overlap; Ross formally accepted the Texas A&M position Aug. 8, 1890; his term as governor ended Jan. 20, 1891, and his title as college president became effective Feb. 1, 1891.
• Short Street (main campus) — This road behind the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center is only a few yards long.
• Sippel Road (west campus) – Dr. William Sippel was executive director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory from 1969 to 1980.
• Spence Street (main campus) – Likely named for former Texas A&M engineering dean David W. Spence, for whom two other sites are named: Spence Park, situated in front of the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center, and Spence Hall (Corps dorm 1).
• Technology Loop (west campus) – One of the street names related to the purposes of Texas A&M’s west campus; this road was part of the original plans when Research Park was established (1982), according to Irwin.
• Throckmorton Street (main campus) – James W. Throckmorton was the 12th governor of Texas, serving 1866-67.
• Tom Chandler Road (west campus) – Tom Chandler coached Aggie baseball from 1959 to 1984, notching five Southwest Conference championships.
• Turk Road (west campus) – Likely named for veterinary parasitologist Dr. R.D. Turk, who worked 35 years for Texas A&M.
• Veted Drive (west campus) – This road leading to some of the parking lots at Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences was named for “veterinary education,” Irwin said.
• West Campus Boulevard (west campus) – Named for its geographical location.