Rosenberg, Texas [1970]

Founded on a site in original Mexican land grant of early settler Henry Scott, where a small, nameless shipping point existed on the Brazos early as 1830. The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad had tracks here before 1860. Town developed after the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1880, built a station where it crossed the B. B. B. & C., and in 1883 bought and platted a 200-acre site with a central square between the Brazos and the railroad. Town was named for Henry Rosenberg of Galveston, a financial backer and president of G. C. & S. F. Count Joseph telfener, an Italian investor, set up offices here in 1881 to build New York, Texas & Mexican Railway, which extended to Victoria. R. T. Mulcahy, called "Father of Rosenberg," arrived in 1883, and for 40 years promoted schools, business, and government. First newspaper, "The Silver X-Ray," was founded in 1895. Methodist and Baptist churches were active before 1900 when town was incorporated. In 1912 came city water and electric lights, and chartering of a Boy Scout troop (one of the first in Texas). Oil and sulphur discoveries and highway development after 1920 have made Rosenberg a center of trade and steady growth.      

   Read more                                                 JOERGER, F. X.


ROSENBERG, TEXAS-POSTMASTERS

Ham, Holman T., 1 Nov 1881

E__ells, John, 25 May 1882

Discontinued 11 Dec 1882; mail to Richmond

(Re-established) Earnest, Leeann E., 2 Mar 1883

Hill, Miss Kate, 14 May 1883

Discontinued 18 Jly 1883; mail to Richmond

(Re-established) Ziegelmeyer, Alfred, 1 Dec 1884

Brown, Benj. R., 14 Jan 1886

Ruff, Harvey P., 21 Aug 1897

Meyer, Henry A., 10 Jan 1900

Meyer, Lee H., 13 Aug 1906

Heard, S. R., 18 Sep 1913

Beyer, Herman, 27 May 1919 (Acting postmaster)

Snedecor, Gayle T., 7 Aug 1923 (Acting postmaster)


Rosenberg Cemetery                                 

Located in Rosenberg, Magnolia Street and Avenue D [2002]

The Rosenberg Cemetery, formerly the Woodmen of the World (W.O.W.) Cemetery, had its beginnings in three separate but adjacent cemeteries--the W.O.W. Cemetery, and Moers and Klauke additions. Although it includes burials dating to the 1890s, the W.O.W. Cemetery was established by Rosenberg Camp No. 535 in 1905, when the group bought eight acres from R.T. Mulcahy. The cemetery was originally to be used only by W.O.W. members and their families. Soon after establishing the burial ground, the W.O.W. camp bought a strip of land connecting the cemetery to a city street. This strip became Magnolia Street, and the land to the west and east of it became the Moers and Klauke cemeteries respectively. W.C. Moers established his graveyard in 1935 and in 1940 sold his remaining lots to Fred E. Klauke, who had started his cemetery the previous year. The City of Rosenberg, which bought the W.O.W. cemetery in 1937, purchased the Moers and Klauke sites in 1973, and today the three graveyards are known together as Rosenberg Cemetery. The names of the city's early settlers and leaders can be found among the grave markers. Historic Texas Cemetery


Rosenberg Post Office                              

 Located in Rosenberg at 2103 Avenue G  [1994]

This post office was established in 1881, a year after Rosenberg was founded on the newly laid route of the Santa Fe Railroad. Early post office locations include a hotel and a general store. Parcel Post service began in 1913, and by 1928 Rosenberg's Post Office was handling mail from 24 mail trains per day. The U. S. Congress authorized the building of a district post office at 2103 Avenue G in 1939. Home delivery began in 1948. the 1939 structure was expanded and modernized in 1966-67. The history of postal service in Rosenberg reflects the growth and development of the community.


Home of Thomas Barnett

 Located 5 mi. northwest of Rosenberg off SH 36 [1962]

(1798 - 1843) Alcalde, municipality of Austin, 1827 and 1829; president, Ayuntamento of San Felipe, 1833; member of the Consultation, 1835; signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

 Thomas Barnett


Fort Bend Telephone Company  [1990]

Founded in 1914, the Fort Bend Telephone Company began when Charles H. Waddell purchased nine individual telephone lines in the Needville community and established a central switchboard exchange. The company grew quickly and soon connected the neighboring towns of Beasley, Brookshire, Damon, Fairchild, Guy, Katy, and Pattison. Incorporated in 1917, the company installed its first dial system in the late 1950s; rural underground cables in 1962; dial service to Houston in 1973; and digital dialing in 1978. Still family-operated, the company is a significant local business.   


Macario Garcia                    

Located in Rosengerg at 716 Blume Rd, Garcia Park [2003]

Macario García was born on January 2, 1920, in Villa de Castaño, Mexico, to Luciano and Josefa García. The family moved to Fort Bend County, Texas, in 1923 to pick crops in Sugar Land. In 1942, Macario García was drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in World War II. He was wounded in action at Normandy in June 1944 but recovered and rejoined his unit, Company B, 1st Batallion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. In November 1944 at Grosshau, Germany, García destroyed two German machine-gun emplacements; although wounded, he secured his company's position. For his actions, García received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman in a White House ceremony on August 23, 1945. He also received other commendations, including the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart and the Medal Mérito Militar, the Mexican equivalent of the U.S. Medal of Honor. In Texas in September 1945, García was denied service at a local restaurant because he was Hispanic. He was ultimately arrested. Indicative of the treatment many minority veterans received following military service, García's case became highly visible in the early years of the American Civil Rights movement, and several groups including LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) came to his aid. On June 25, 1947, García became a U.S. citizen. He worked for the Veterans Administration for 25 years and served in the U.S. Army Reserves, attaining the rank of Command Sergeant Major. He died in a car accident in 1972 and is buried in the Houston National Cemetery. A Houston Army Reserve Center and a school is Sugar Land are also named in his honor.   Read more


Taylor Ray 

Located in Rosenberg on Ave N just east of intersection with Ward St. [1979]

1863-1936) Born in Wabash, Indiana, Taylor Ray left home at the age of 13 to seek his fortune. In 1890 he married Mattie Newton (1871-1951) and they had seven children. As railroad freight agent for the Wells Fargo Co., in 1894, Ray was temporarily assigned to Rosenberg where he remained for the rest of his life. Ray was a charter member and deacon of the First Baptist Church and a charter member of the Masonic Lodge. After the devastating 1900 storm, Ray persuaded the railroad to let local churches use box cars until new buildings were erected. Ray and others were instrumental in establishing the school district in 1898 and securing law and order. Ray served on the Rosenberg Board of Aldermen, 1902-1910, and as mayor, 1910-1912, of the commission form of city government. As treasurer, 1900-1910, of the rosenberg School Board, Ray raised funds for the construction of the first schoolhouse and hiring of the first teacher. He became president of the school board in 1910 and held that position for the next 24 years. Concerned with quality education for all, Ray also started a black school and led in the inclusion of women on the school board. Ray introduced an athletic program in 1920 and football in 1923.


Robinowitz Brothers                                    

Located in Rosenberg at 2012 Ave g [1988]

The Robinowitz family immigrated to the United States from Russia between 1898 and 1910. Beginning a new life in Texas, the brothers worked as peddlers for several years before opening stores in Richmond, Beasley, and Rosenberg. As merchants and builders, Cecil, Abe, and Libby Robinowitz contributed to downtown Rosenberg at a significant time in the city's growth and development. Early 1920s Robinowitz buildings on Avenue G housed the Rosenberg Post Office, Libby's Dress Shop, and the R B Grocery Store.


Charles Harvey Waddell                                

 Located in Rosenberg at 2012 Ave G [1990]

(January 18, 1888 - January 28, 1950) A native of Arkansas, Charles Harvey Waddell came to Texas with his family at an early age. He became an automobile dealer in 1910 and in 1914 formed the Fort Bend Telephone Company. He served as county tax collector from 1919 to 1922, and from 1926 to 1930 represented Waller and Fort Bend counties in the State Legislature. Through his later business interests, including three local farmers' gins, real estate development, a lumber company, and a savings and loan institution, Waddell contributed significantly to the growth and development of Rosenberg.


Teague-Waddell House                           

 Located in Rosenberg at 1810 Avenue U  [1979]

Local businessman Norman P. Teague (1879-1913) and his wife Sidney Claire (Brooks) (1879-1952) erected this two-story residence in 1910. It has ornate columns and classical revival detailing popular at the time. This was one of several elegant homes that stood along this street, known as Rosenberg's "silk stocking row." In 1925 Jake H. Waddell (1868-1942) purchased the house. Members of the Waddell family owned the property for over 40 years.


Trone-Ray-Lane House                        

 Located in Rosenberg at 1314 Third St. [1979]

This house is located on the 1824 land grant of one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" colonists, Henry Scott. It was built as a wedding gift in 1909 for rancher-banker Earl R. Trone and his wife. Her parents from Indiana had it constructed of pine and cypress with a granite foundation to withstand hurricanes and floods. In 1925 Taylor and Mattie N. ray bought the house. Taylor Ray served on the first Rosenberg Board of Aldermen and later as mayor. For 24 years he was president of the rosenberg School Board. The house is now owned by Ray descendants, the Lanes. Incise in base: Restored in 1964 by the family of Milton Ray Lane


Vogelsang Building                                              

 Located in Rosengerg at 1911 Avenue G  [1986]

Built in 1910 by Jacob Gray, this building was leased by Louis a. Vogelsang (1874-1961) in 1916 for his general merchandise business. Vogelsang bought the property in 1922, and continued to operate his store at this site until 1947. The early commercial building features brick construction with simple corbelled cornice, segmented-arch upper windows and shop-front lower windows and doors. Painting of bricks highlights the hood molds, bands, and cornices.


First Baptist Church of Rosenberg                           

 Rosenberg 1117 First St. SH 36

In 1896 three Baptist men organized this church. T. E. Muse served as the first pastor from 1898 to 1900. The 1900 Galveston hurricane destroyed an unfinished church building. Services were held in a nearby church and in a rail car until a schoolhouse was purchased in 1901. In 1912, a brick sanctuary was built, with the first electric lights in town. Some baptism services were held in the Brazos River until the 1930s. New facilities were added over the years as the congregation grew. The church continues to serve the Rosenberg community.


 


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