ROBSTOWN, TEXAS. 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.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nueces County Historical Society, History of Nueces County (Austin: Jenkins, 1972).
