Wellborn, Texas


Wellborn was an unincorporated community in Brazos County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 100 in 2000. It is part of the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Wellborn is located at . It is situated along FM 2154, approximately four miles south of College Station and eight miles northwest of Millican in southern Brazos County.

History

The community came into existence in 1867 as a construction camp on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. The first store and cotton gin were established by John and Thomas Royder of the Rock Prairie community. The town's name has been attributed to a well at the construction camp, a foreman named E.W. Wellborn, or a landowner named W.W. Willburn.
In 1867, a post office opened in the community under the name Wellborn Station. Three years later, the name was shortened to Wellborn. By the mid-1880s, Wellborn had developed into a shipping point for cattle and had a population of approximately 50. It was home to 400 people by 1910. Soon after, Wellborn went into decline. The number of inhabitants hit a low of 40 in 1950, partly due to the rise of nearby College Station and Bryan. An estimated 100 people lived in Wellborn as of the late 1980s. Twenty businesses as well as a community center were operational in 1990. The population hovered around 100 throughout the 1990s and into 2000.
Although Wellborn is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 77881. The Wellborn Cemetery, which dates back to the early 1870s, is designated a state historic landmark. In 2009, the Citizens for Wellborn Committee was founded as a non-profit group to explore incorporation. Because Wellborn lies in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of College Station, the city council of College Station must grant permission to the Wellborigines for them to exercise their right to vote.
Citizens of Wellborn have fought with the city of College Station to protect itself from being incorporated into the city; the College Station City Council voted 5-2 to annex Wellborn and incorporate it into the city on 14 April 2011.

Education

Public education in the community of Wellborn is provided by the College Station Independent School District. Zoned campuses include Greens Prairie Elementary,, Pecan Trail Intermediate,, Wellborn Middle, , and A&M Consolidated High..