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ROSSVILLE, TEXAS


Atascosa County, South Texas

FM 476
About 8 Miles W of Poteet
SW of San Antonio
Population: 200 (2000)


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Rossville TX
Rossville TX
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2012

History in a Pecan Shell

The original owner of the Rossville site was Col. José Antonio Navarro, the namesake of Navarro County. In the 1870s he bequeathed the site to his son J.A. George Navarro who subdivided the land into small farms, each having access to the Atascosa River.

Scotsman John Ross married J.A. Navarro’s daughter. John and his brother W.F.M. Ross, were co-founders of the town of Rossville in the early 1870s.

The community was granted a post office in 1877 and grew as a shipping point for cotton and livestock. In 1900 the community consisted of the post office, a school, three stores, two churches and a population of around 300.

Improvements in the early years of the 20th century included a Catholic church and a two-room school.

The anticipated railroad from San Antonio to Laredo bypassed Rossville, dashing hopes of growth. By the mid teens, the population had declined by half and the boll weevil had devastated the cotton crop, forcing the community to diversify. To peanuts and watermelons.

Two stores managed to survive the Great Depression although other buildings were razed or cannibalized for their material. The post office closed in 1947 and the school merged with the Poteet schools in the mid 1950s.

In the mid 1980s, Rossville residents opened a community center which serves as an election precinct and for general community gatherings.

Rossville TX Community Center
Rossville Community Center
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2012

Historical Marker: On east side of FM 2504 about 1 mile south of intersection with FM 476, Rossville

Rossville

First Scottish community in southwest Texas. Founded 1873 by brothers William F.M. Ross and John C. Ross. Born in north Scotland, they came to Texas in 1867. Here they were awarded a contract to carry U.S. Mail. On the route, they noticed fertile soil and plentiful game of this region. They soon settled here and persuaded other Scottish families to join them.

Rossville came to have a one-room school, cotton gin, post office (established 1877), two grocery stores, a bakery and a saloon; but it declined after being by passed by the railroad.
(1969)

Rossville TX Historical Marker
Rossville Historical Marker
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2012


Rossville TX Fire Dept
Rossville Fire Dept
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2012

Historical Marker: At intersection of FM 476 and FM 2504, take County Road west to cemetery about 200 yards, Rossville.

Rossville Cemetery

Texas statesman Jose Antonio Navarro (1795-1871) transferred land here along the Atascosa River to his eldest son Jose Antonio George Navarro. J.A.G. Navarro (b.1819) then gave 160 acres here to his daughter Maria Antonia Navarro (1845-1922) in 1870, on the occasion of her marriage in San Antonio to Scotsman John C. Ross (1839-1925). One acre at this site was reserved for a cemetery. Ross and his brother William subsequently founded the community of Rossville here after 1873. The first burial was that of Juana Chaves Navarro (1820-1874), wife of J.A.G. Navarro. Other pioneers who lived in this area before the founding of Rossville are buried here. Their family names include Alvarez, Bergara, Castanon, Cruz, Galindo, Gonzales, Tabberer, Tober, Riojas, and Stokes. Confederate veteran Clemente Galindo (1844-1881) and his wife Martha Goins Galindo (1845-1903) are buried here along with many of their descendants. By the 1920s the road to the graveyard was often impassable, so John Ross was buried in the family plot at the Episcopal Church Cemetery (1 mi. E). His wife Maria Antonia is buried here, near their home site. Other Navarro, Chaves, and Ross descendants are also buried here, including Texas Ranger Captain Tom Ross (1871-1946), son of John and Maria Antonia Ross.
(1986) Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.

Rossville TX - Langston Ross Memorial Cemetery

Langston Ross Memorial Cemetery
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2012



Rossville TX - Langston Ross Memorial Cemetery

Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2012
More Texas Cemeteries


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South Texas

Rossville, Texas Nearby Towns:
Jourdanton the county seat
Pleasanton
Poteet
See Atascosa County

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