Rossville

Rossville's land was cut into long, narrow strips in the early 1870s so that every settler could reach the Atascosa River. The railroad from San Antonio to Laredo missed the town, people began leaving, and the boll weevil ended cotton planting. Farmers switched to watermelons, peanuts and vegetables, freighted to market in San Antonio. The Depression emptied more farms. The post office closed in 1947 and the school joined the Poteet district in 1955, its building moved away. A community building opened in 1986 and hosted elections, 4-H meetings and family reunions.

What the plaque says

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)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Atascosa County Courthouse — 14 mi
  The only surviving Mission Revival courthouse in Texas, built in 1912-13 on Jourdanton's town circle after a county seat vote that some residents still call a theft.
• Longhorn Museum — 15 mi
  Atascosa County in one roadside museum: longhorn-and-mustang ranching, a moved railroad depot and caboose, a horse-drawn hearse and the town that calls itself the birthplace of the cowboy.
• Mission Espada and the Espada Aqueduct — 21 mi
  The southernmost San Antonio mission and the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States, still carrying river water over Sixmile Creek to the fields after nearly three centuries.
• Landmark Inn State Historic Site — 22 mi
  A store and stage stop at the Medina River ford in Henri Castro's Alsatian town, with a mill race under the ground and rooms you can still rent for the night.

More markers nearby

• Rossville Cemetery — 0.9 mi
• Edward Brown — 3.1 mi
• Amphion and Amphion Cemetery — 6.7 mi
• Poteet — 7.4 mi