Rockwood, Texas

Rockwood, Texas
Unincorporated community
Rockwood Show map of Texas Rockwood Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 31°30′04″N99°22′24″W / 31.50111°N 99.37333°W / 31.50111; -99.37333
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Coleman
Elevation	1,483 ft (452 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code	325
GNIS feature ID	1366741 [1]

Rockwood is an unincorporated community in Coleman County, Texas, United States. ^[1] According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 80 in 2000.

History

Though the region was supposedly known as the Camp Creek settlement in the early 1870s, Lee Shields' store on the stream marked the beginning of the town in the early 1880s. At this location, a Chisholm Trail branch turned northwest. H. L. and Sallie Faulk's house became the post office in 1889, and Jim Foreman named it Discord following a dispute over the town's name. In January 1890, it renamed itself Rockwood, presumably in honor of Adolph Wood, a local who became postmaster. There is another story that claims Wood renamed the town. An estimated 25 people were living in the village in 1890, along with a general store, a blacksmith, a carpenter, and a grain mill and gin. A boom resulted from the finding of coal close to the Colorado River between 1890 and 1892. With a population of 75 in 1892, the settlement was moved from the north to the south bank of Camp Creek. There were three general stores, a cotton gin, and 100 residents in Rockwood by 1914, but the coal mining company that had been in business in 1892 didn't seem to be around anymore. Rockwood's population was estimated to be 200 people in 1925. There were 15 enterprises there in 1931 and eight in 1933. Between 1933 and 1963, population estimates stayed at 200, although the number of enterprises varied and eventually stabilized at four. The population was recorded as 80 from 1970 through 2000. The post office continued to operate, but after 1983, there were no recorded companies in Rockwood. ^[2]

Although it is unincorporated, Rockwood has a post office, with the ZIP code of 76873. ^[3]

On May 2, 2007, an F1 tornado struck Rockwood. The tornado moved through the south side of the community damaging a few buildings, including their brand-new post office. The tornado exited town and continued another couple of miles damaging barns and trees. ^[4]

Geography

Rockwood is located on U.S. Highway 283 on Camp Creek, 23 mi (37 km) south of Coleman and four miles north of the Colorado River in southern Coleman County. ^[2]

Education

Rockwood had its own school in 1926 and closed in 1955. ^[2] Today, the community is served by the Santa Anna Independent School District.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rockwood, Texas
2. Rockwood, TX from the Handbook of Texas Online
3. Zip Code Lookup
4. National Weather Service in San Angelo, Texas (2024). Texas Event Report: EF1 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved January 14, 2024.