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ROSSER, TEXAS

Kaufman County, North Central Texas
Highway 34
12 miles SW of Kaufman
45 miles SE of Dallas
Population 379 (2000)

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Rosser Texas depot
Rosser depot

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006

History in a Pecan Shell

Platted as a townsite in 1851 under the name Trinidad, initial settlement was before 1850. The town's location on the East Fork of the Trinity River promised a bright future. The watercourse was navigable at that time for barge and riverboat traffic. Trinidad experienced healthy growth prior to the Civil War and the post office opened in 1854. River commerce decreased after the war as railroads expanded. The post office (still named Trinidad) closed its doors in 1866.
Rosser depot and water tower

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006
The Texas and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1872 and Trinidad hosted scores of railroad workers, increasing the population and creating a tent boomtown. The newcomers justified reopening the post office and a new application was filed under the name of Burton. But Washington County already had a Burton and so the town was renamed after Capt. Robert S. Rosser a local landowner who had become wealthy through land and timber sales.
The post office in Rosser

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006
Grain elevator and water tower

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006
Under the new name, the town continued to prosper. By 1894 there was a gin, sawmill, and gristmill. A second gin was constructed just after 1900 and the town acquired a hotel. A newspaper was first published in1902, under the name Review. In the mid-teens a second paper (The Midget) appeared. In 1904 the population of Rosser was 128 and by 1925 it had increased to 350 residents.

During the Great Depression, while other East Texas towns were declining, Rosser experienced a boom of sorts. The town was wired for electricity and a pork-slaughtering business (which never materialized) was planned.
The closed school in Rosser

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006
The Volunteer Fire Department

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006
In 1936 Rosser claimed a healthy population of 350. It declined from this number to just 225 by the mid-1950s where it remained through the late '80s.

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This page last modified: August 9, 2006