Roosevelt

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the voice along for the ride. Out here in Kimble County, there's a community called Roosevelt, and the name alone ought to make you curious, because nobody in Roosevelt actually chose it. The community got its start in 1898 with the establishment of a post office.

A woman named Alice Wagner applied for that post office, and she had a name in mind: a different name entirely. But the postal service up in Washington looked at that application and substituted the name Roosevelt. Presumably, the thinking was to honor Theodore Roosevelt, whose Rough Riders had visited the area prior to their legendary Spanish-American War service.

So Alice Wagner fills out her paperwork, sends it north, and Washington sends back a name she never asked for. That's the federal government for you. Two military roads traversed this area, which tells you this was not some quiet forgotten corner of the Hill Country; this was a crossroads, a place people passed through and stopped at.

And Roosevelt grew into something. It became a social center for the surrounding ranch families. The post office was just the beginning.

There was a Masonic lodge, there were churches, stores, a school. All the things that turn a wide spot in the road into a place with a heartbeat. And it all carries the name of a man who never settled here, never built here, just passed through.

Sometimes that's enough to leave a mark that outlasts everything else.

What the marker says

The community of Roosevelt began with the establishment of a post office in 1898. Although Alice Wagner applied for the post office with another name, the postal service in Washington substituted the name Roosevelt presumably in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, whose Rough Riders visited the area prior to their legendary Spanish-American War service. Two military roads traversed this area and Roosevelt became a social center for surrounding ranch families. In addition to the post office Roosevelt included a masonic lodge, churches, stores and a school. (1997)