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ROSSER, TEXAS
Kaufman
County,
Central Texas North
32° 27' 41" N, 96° 26' 59" W (32.461389, -96.449722)
TX Hwy 34
2 miles NE of the Trinity River and the county line
12 miles SW of Kaufman the county
seat
14 miles NE of Ennis
45 miles SE of Dallas
ZIP code 75157
Area code 972
Population: 400 Est. (2019)
332 (2010) 379 (2000) 366 (1990)
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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.
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.
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 North 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.
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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The Volunteer
Fire Department
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, January 2006 |
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