White Point/Rosita
Odem, San Patricio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Native American tribes occupied land in this vicinity before Spanish explorers claimed the region in the 18th Century. Anglo American settlers began arriving in the area in the 1830s, and in 1856 brothers, Frank and Eddie White purchased land here for a cattle ranch. Their land holdings became known as White Point, named either for themselves or for the prominent white cliffs along nearby Nueces Bay. The White brothers hired Darius C. Rachal to move their cattle herd here from East Texas. Following his service with Hood's Texas Brigade during the Civil War. Rachal also purchased land in the area and began his own ranching enterprise. After the White brothers died in a yellow fever epidemic, Rachal became the community's leading citizen. His home became a center of activity, and he applied for a U.S. post office in 1890. The Postal Service denied the name White Point, but finally approved a post office in 1892 under the Rosita, Darius C. Rachal was the first postmaster. The White Point / Rosita community remained small, but did include a public school for a few years. Established in 1916, the school closed in the early 1920s, about the time the community declined following Rachal's death in 1918. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Long home to Native American peoples and later claimed by 18th-century Spanish explorers, this coastal area near Nueces Bay drew Anglo settlers in the 1830s and, in 1856, the White brothers, who founded a cattle ranch known as White Point. Confederate veteran Darius C. Rachal, hired to drive their herd from East Texas, stayed to build his own ranch and became the community's leading figure after the Whites died in a yellow fever epidemic. When the post office denied the name White Point, it opened in 1892 as Rosita, with Rachal as postmaster; the little community faded after his death in 1918.
Why it matters
White Point/Rosita traces the layered settlement of the South Texas coast—Indigenous, Spanish, and Anglo—and the ranching families whose fortunes made and unmade small frontier communities.
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Related people
- · Frank White
- · Eddie White
- · Darius C. Rachal
Themes & tags
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