Rabb Switch

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Rabb Switch has to say, so let the record show where this story comes from. Now, some places get their names and you wonder what the story is. Rabb Switch, Lavaca County, Texas.

Not much to look at today, maybe. But let me tell you how it got to be a place at all. Edward M.

Rabb was born in 1855, a native of La Grange, Fayette County, Texas. His people were William and Prudence Smalley Rabb, and somewhere along the way Edward became a doctor. In the 1880s, Dr.

Edward M. Rabb settled in this area and purchased two thousand and eighty-nine acres of land from a man named S. W.

Campbell. That is not a small piece of ground. That is a man with a plan.

And here is where it gets interesting. Dr. Rabb left a will, and in that will he put down instructions.

Specific instructions. He wanted a wood and water switch built to serve a railroad, to be built on a portion of his land. Now that is a man who could see the future comin down the tracks before the tracks were even laid.

And those tracks did come. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad was built across the Navidad River in 1887. The switch was constructed, just as Dr.

Rabb had called for. He died in 1908, so he did not see it all play out, but his instructions outlasted him. Once that switch was up and runnin, local residents got to work.

They cut and loaded firewood for shipment to Houston. The land cleared of firewood did not sit idle. It went straight into farming, cotton and corn, the primary source of income for farmers in the area.

Two stores opened at Rabb Switch. A school built in the 1800s was moved to the community in 1919 and served thirty to thirty-five students. A real community, built on one man's last written wishes.

But things have a way of turning. The railroad ceased operations during the 1950s, at the same time that U.S. Highway 90-A was improved.

The school closed in 1953, and the students were transferred five miles west to the Hallettsville Independent School District. Population declined. Businesses closed.

A doctor from La Grange wrote instructions in a will. Those instructions built a switch, and the switch built a community. The community ran its course.

That is Rabb Switch, and that is how it stands.

What the marker says

Edward M. Rabb (1855-1908) a native of La Grange, Fayette County, Texas, was the son of William and Prudence Smalley Rabb. In the 1880s Dr. Edward M. Rabb settled in this area and purchased 2089 acres of land from S. W. Campbell. At his death, Dr. Rabb left a will with instructions calling for a wood and water switch to serve the railroad to be built on a portion of his land. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad was built across the Navidad River in 1887. The switch was constructed and local residents cut and loaded firewood for shipment to Houston. The land that was cleared of firewood was used to farm cotton and corn, the primary source of income for farmers in the area. Two stores opened at Rabb Switch, and a school built in the 1800s was moved to the community in 1919 and served 30-35 students. The railroad ceased operations during the 1950s, at the same time that U. s. Highway 90-A was improved. When the school was closed in 1953, students were transferred five miles west to the Hallettsville Independent School District, and the population declined thereafter as businesses closed. (1997)