In 1867, after many delays caused by the Civil War, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, which had only previously gotten as far as Millican, finally reached Bryan.

Keeping up with progress in the rest of the country, Bryan added electric lighting and a waterworks to its community in 1889.

The fifth Brazos County courthouse was built in 1892, and by the turn of the century, in 1900, the International-Great Northern Railroad stopped in Bryan.

A bell, made in 1905 and rung in 1918 to signal the end of World War I is still located out front today.

[12][13] Less than 1,000 residents chose to evacuate, taking shelter at Texas A&M University, which closed its campus for the day to ease traffic problems.

[13] In 2010, the Brazos County District Attorney's Office started the enforcement of a "Gang Safety Zone" in response to an escalation in violence within Bryan.

Cities like Houston and Los Angeles looked to the Bryan model of safety enforcement surrounding gang violence.

[16] In 2013 the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan closed as a result of state budget cuts which impacted family-planning facilities.

An employee of Kent Moore Cabinets, a local cabinet-making company, killed one person and injured five others, four of them critically.

In June, 27-year-old suspect Larry Bollin was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder and aggravated assault.

[18][19][20] In late November, 2023, he was found mentally unfit to stand trial by the Judge Holden.

It is bordered to the southeast by the city of College Station and to the northwest by the unincorporated community of Lake Bryan.

[24] The local climate is humid subtropical and temperate, and winters are mild with periods of low temperatures usually lasting less than two months.

[45] The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the Hamilton Unit, a pre-release facility in Bryan.

[48] The TDCJ also operates the Bryan District Parole Office in nearby College Station.

[52] The Brazos Transit District began offering bus service in the Bryan-College Station in 1974.

[56] Texas A&M University, headquartered in sister city College Station, operates student-driven free buses on weekdays for use by the general public that includes coverage around several apartment complexes in Bryan near campus and along a route that culminates at the campus of Blinn College.