Robstown History

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Historic Photographs

"Rob's Town"

Robstown, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 77 and State Highway 44 in north central Nueces County, was established about 1906 by real estate developer George Paul of Washington, Iowa, at the junction of the Texas Mexican and the Brownsville and Mexican railroads. The town was named for Robert Driscoll. It grew rapidly after the development of the Winter Garden Region as a truck-farming area and the discovery of oil in Nueces County in 1930. The population was 948 in 1920, 4,183 in 1931, and 6,100 in 1940. By 1948 Robstown had seven cotton gins, five packing sheds for vegetables, five schools, twenty churches, and 220 businesses. The town incorporated in 1912 and adopted a mayor-council form of city government in 1948. A ten-acre park and swimming-pool complex was completed in 1963 to expand the municipal recreational facilities. Among the businesses reported in the 1960s were companies related to the petroleum industry, a ready-mix concrete producer, and portable-building manufacturers. The population grew steadily during the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1980 Robstown had 12,100 residents. Since that time the population has remained relatively static, with some 12,849 residents reported in 1990 and 12,727 in 2000. The economy of the town is supported by the surrounding agricultural and petroleum interests.

"If Johanna Mrazek was reflecting on the past, Tom Mrazek was undoubtedly looking forward to the future. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which he could not pass up. He had six sons and each needed a way to make a good living. He also had five daughters and each of them needed to establish themselves well too. Nueces County, Texas, was opening up and there was land and opportunities available for any and all who were willing to take on the challenge. The land around what was now called Robstown, Texas, had been a part of "The Famous Driscoll Ranch" for many years. But, a railroad right of way had been designated to the south from Robstown, Texas, through the lands ranched by men with names such as Driscoll, King, Kenedy, and Armstrong." 

"Progress and development was the rule of the day. Money changed hands. A railroad line would run down to Brownsville, Texas. The Saint Louis Brownsville and Mexican Railway, started to build their line in 1902 and Driscoll made a trade to sell the 10,000 acres lying west of the Saint Louis, Brownsville and Mexican Railroad with the German-American Land Company, who was to sell the land. Their efforts were not successful so a trade was made with George H. Paul Land Company of Washington, Iowa, to sell the land. It was Mr. Paul and his great art of advertisement and merchandising which brought to the area many Czech Texans such as Mr. And Mrs. Tom Mrazek as well as other adventurous people from around Texas as well as from distant states. Nueces County was being publicized as a "land of milk and honey" and a "farmer's dream come true." Why it even said the deep black clay soil of the coastal prairie was so rich that it would never be farmed out, never need fertilizer."