Rosharon ( ), is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

(CDP) split between Brazoria County and Fort Bend County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 521 and Farm to Market Road 1462. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,152.

History

The Rosharon town site went unnamed during its early years. The area was settled by cotton and sugar plantations before the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

. Once the

Houston Tap and Brazoria Railway The Houston Tap and Brazoria Railway was chartered in September 1856 to extend southward from Houston to West Columbia in Brazoria County. The railroad's nicknames were the Columbia Tap and the Sugar Road. The railway absorbed track from an earlie ...

(''Columbia Tap'') was completed in 1859, the Rosharon stop on the train line was given the name Masterson's Station, after a nearby plantation owned by Thomas G. Masterson (ca. 1813–1884). Rosharon was known locally by trainmen as "Buttermilk Station" because an early resident was known to bring a bucket of

buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mod ...

and a dipper to the railroad station to give the engineer and crew a drink. George Wetmore Colles, Jr. (1871–1951), an electrical and mechanical engineer educated at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

(BA 1892) and the Stevens Institute of Technology, bought property in the area around 1900 and called his estate the Rose of Sharon Garden Ranch after the many Cherokee Roses ('' Rosa laevigata'') that grew there. Colles also designed the community water system. Antonio G. Arcaro served as Rosharon's postmaster from 1912 to 1920. The Rosharon post office was discontinued in 1920 and mail was then sent to Sandy Point. The post office reopened in 1936, only to be closed again in 1979. A new post office was dedicated under President Ronald Reagan and operates today. Tom Lochridge (1903–1985) platted the town site. Lochridge was responsible for having a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

moved to Rosharon from

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

. Aside from providing employment for several persons, the gin's engine was used as Rosharon's first power plant. The community's first

telephone exchange telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syste ...

was operated out of Lochridge's home. Rosharon's school was initially held in private home, and later in its own building. Eventually, the Rosharon school district was consolidated with the Angleton schools. Students began being bussed to Angleton in the late 1900s, a practice that continues to this day. Church meetings were first held in a former school, then in a tavern that community members had bought and converted into a church. Eventually a brick church was constructed. The South Texas Water Company located in Rosharon in 1935, and its fresh watercanals for irrigating rice brought some seventy-five to eighty rice farmers to the area. By the late 1980s, Rosharon had an estimated population of 500. In 1990 the population was 435. Most residents commute to jobs in nearby towns.

Demographics

Neighborhoods in the surrounding area include; Songbird Ranch Airport (private), Lindell Estates, Lakes of Savannah, Glendale Lakes, Southern Colony, Chenango Ranch, Coffee Lake, Seven Oaks Ranch, Sun Creek Estates, Sun Creek Ranch, Cold River Ranch, Sterling Lakes and Sierra Vista.

Cambodians

In 1985 Yani Rose Keo, a Cambodian American, established a farm in an area called "Little Cambodia", in Brazoria County, near Rosharon. Terrence McCoy of the '' Houston Press'' stated that there were "perhaps" 90 families of Cambodian origin living there. - Published in the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan ...

'' as:
a Hidden Texas Farming Village, the Making (and Selling) of a Cambodian Bumper Crop
and in '' Westword'' as
For some Cambodians in Houston, water spinach provides a figurative and literal lifeline
In the 2000s (decade) the farmers got into a dispute with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) over the farming of

water spinach ''Ipomoea aquatica'', widely known as water spinach, is a semi- aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. ''I. aquatica'' is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultiv ...

, which the TPWD classified as “Harmful or Potentially Harmful to Exotic Fish, Shellfish and Aquatic Plants.” Ultimately the TPWD allowed the farming of water spinach. "Little Cambodia" sustained damage during Hurricane Ike in 2008, and in

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

in 2017.

Economy

There are four

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jai ...

(TDCJ) prison units near Rosharon. Ramsey (formerly Ramsey I), Stringfellow (formerly Ramsey III), and Terrell (formerly Ramsey II) are all co-located. In addition Darrington Unit is near Rosharon. The ''

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President ...

'' stated that the prison authority employees and their family members "added considerably to osharon'seconomy."Rosharon, Texas
"

. Retrieved on July 16, 2010. A

Schlumberger Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague. Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling comp ...

product center is located in Rosharon. Rosharon is the current home of Skydive Spaceland Houston, a major skydiving center with a dedicated airstrip and landing area on the northeast corner of FM 521 and FM 1462.

Government and infrastructure

The Rosharon Volunteer Fire Department (RVFD) provides fire services for Rosharon. In the 1940s Rosharon community members, wanting to start a fire department, met with Brazoria County officials and purchased firefighting equipment. From the 1940s until 2004 the firefighting department received all of its support from fundraising events, private donations, and small contributions from the Brazoria County government. The volunteer group organized in 1956, and in 1986 the Rosharon Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. incorporated as a non-profit corporation. In 2002 taxpayers formed the Brazoria County Emergency Services District #3, which provides EMS services. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

operates the Rosharon Post Office at 1810 East Farm to Market Road 1462.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Students in the Rosharon census-designated place attend the Angleton Independent School District (AISD) schools. In the 20th century the Rosharon school district was consolidated into the Angleton district, and busing into Angleton began in the late 20th century. Angleton High School serves all district residents. Students in the surrounding area are zoned to AISD schools as well as the Fort Bend Independent School District for residents in Fort Bend County (Southern Colony). Some Rosharon residents attend Manvel schools in the Alvin ISD. Manvel High School, Manvel Junior High, and E.C Mason Elementary. In the neighborhoods west of Chocolate Bayou, along the north side of F.M. 1462, students attend Alvin Primary, Alvin Elementary, Fairview Junior High and Alvin High School in Alvin. Prior to the opening of Hightower High School, Elkins High School served parts of the Rosharon area in Fort Bend County.

Colleges

The

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful a ...

designated portions of Angleton ISD that by September 1, 1995 had not been annexed by Alvin Community College as in the

Brazosport College Brazosport College (BC) is a public community college in Lake Jackson, Texas. The college was opened in 1968 and offers primarily associate degrees and some bachelor's degrees. The campus features The Clarion, a regional musical performance ven ...

zone. As Rosharon is not in the maps of Alvin CC, it is in the Brazosport College zone. There was a section of H.B. No. 2744, filed on March 6, 2007,Bill: HB 2744
"

. Retrieved on March 11, 2011. which would have changed the boundary between Alvin CC and Brazosport CC to put Rosharon in the Alvin CC service boundary.

References

External links

Rosharon Volunteer Fire DepartmentHandbook of Texas Online entry for Rosharon
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Brazoria County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Census-designated places in Brazoria County, Texas Census-designated places in Texas