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Rockdale owes its founding to the International & Great Northern Rail
Line, along which the town was laid out in 1873-74. The railroad gave area
farmers access to markets for their crops, and Rockdale became a shipping
point for farmers and other local businesses. The San Antonio & Aransas
Pass (later Southern Pacific) Railroad operated a north-south route through
Rockdale from 1891 to 1959, further contributing to economic growth. The
Rockdale, Sandow and Southern Railroad, chartered in 1923 to carry lignite
coal to area customers, became Rockdale's third rail line. Although the last
passenger train left Rockdale in 1970, the railroad remains a significant
part of the community's heritage.
(2001)
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