Rockdale, TX, Milam County. (original) (raw)
International & Great Northern Railroad Passenger Depot
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
100, N Main St, Rockdale
TE photo, May 2008
History in a Pecan Shell
In 1873 as the International-Great Northern Railroad was laying track between Hearne and Austin, local businessmen sold 400 acres of land to the railroad to plat a townsite. The town lots were auctioned in the fall of 1873 and the railroad arrived in early 1874. The honor of naming the new town fell to Mrs. B. F. Ackerman who named it after a specific boulder said to be 20 feet in circumference and nearly 12 feet high.
The arrival of the railroad made Rockdale Milam County�s first major railroad connection. The population swelled to 1,700 by the mid 1880s.
Lignite coal was extracted from several area mines in the 1890s and in 1891 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway became the town�s second railroad. Coal mining became more important to the economy with an estimated 7,000 ore cars leaving Rockdale weekly.
With the discovery of a (shallow) oilfield in 1920, lignite mining declined and a refinery was built. After WWII the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) opened a plant here � occupying most of what was the town of Sandow, Texas.
From 2,300 residents in 1954, the population grew to 6,300 in four short years. In 1959 Rockdale�s north-south rail line was abandoned. Lignite mining continued through the 1970s.
The population of Rockdale in the early 1960s was around 4,500, growing to 5,810 by the late 1980s.
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Rockdale, Texas
Landmarks & Attractions
Hisrtorical Marker (100 N Main St, Rockdale):
International & Great Northern Railroad Passenger Depot
Three rail lines largely contributed to Rockdale's early commercial development, and of the three, the International & Great Northern (I&GN) made the biggest impact. This former I&GN passenger depot opened in 1906. It survived various changes to the rail company, including its transition to the Missouri Pacific line in 1956. After years of declining rail use by passengers, the last passenger train left the depot on September 21, 1970, and the building served as storage for many years.
Restored at the turn of the 21st century, the depot is eclectic in design with elements of Italianate, Queen Anne and Prairie styles of architecture.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2005
Rockdale Police Department
TE photo, May 2008
He survived the war, but fell in peace.
TE photo, 2001
Native Son
- George Sessions Perry by Clay Coppedge
...The temptation to look for George Sessions Perry's Rockdale can be strong because few writers are linked in readers' minds with a hometown like Perry and Rockdale...
Perry's novel Hold Autumn In Your Hand which won the National Book Award in 1941, is still the book for which Perry is best known. The book was made into a popular movie, "The Southerner," starring Zachary Scott as Sam Tucker, the story's main character. The book is often compared with Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck, with Perry's book often getting the higher mark from critics... more
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