Its county seat is Bryan. Other towns include College Station, Kurten, Millican, Welborn and Wixon Valley. Brazos County is located in the south central part of the state and lies between the Brazos and Navasota rivers. The county is ideally situated in the middle of a triangle bounded by Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin. Approximately 80% of the Texas population is located within a 200 mile radius of Bryan – College Station. Brazos County has a land area of 586 square miles.
Brazos County’s physical features are predominantly alkaline, loamy, dark surface soils and clay subsoils with 11 to 20% of the county considered to be prime farmland. A portion of the county is Blackland Prairies and the remaining portion is Post Oak Savannah vegetation area.
The major waterways are the Brazos River, forming the western county boundary and the Navasota River, forming the eastern boundary. The county’s altitude ranges from 197 to 312 feet above sea level. Our climate includes 39.1 inches annual rainfall, average January minimum temperature of 39 degrees F., average July maximum temperature of 94 degrees F., average first frost date of November 30, average last frost date of March 1, 274 growing days and average wind speed of 4 miles per hour with prevailing wind from the south.
Brazos County is home of Texas A&M University which is the county’s largest employer and a major contributor to the local economy. 1995 statistics indicate that Texas A&M had a direct economic impact of $579 million on the Bryan – College Station area. When the standard 2.5 economic multiplier is applied, this economic impact grows to more than $1.4 billion. In 1995, Texas A&M had approximately 19,200 employees with a $385 million payroll.
George Bush Library view from across the pond. Flickr Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenwilke/405116752/in/pool-63064471@N00/
It was a part of Stephen F. Austin’s second colony in the late 1820s. It was created in 1841 from Robertson and Washington counties and named Navasota, then renamed in 1842 as Brazos for the Brazos River.
Agribusiness is big business in Brazos County. Brazos County is home to more than 375 agribusinesses that employ over 8,000 local residents, or 22 percent of the total county workforce. These businesses play an important part in contributing to the $760 million economic impact of agribusiness each year.
