TOWN OF ROSMAN
Mailing Address:
P O Box 636
Rosman, NC 28772
Phone: 828-884-6859
e-mail:
rosmantown@comporium.net
Contact Town Hall For All Services
828-884-6859
TOWN OFFICIALS:
Mayor:
Brian Shelton
Mayor Pro-tem:
Missy Hendricks
Alderman:
Larry Bullock
Jared Crowe
Walter Petit
Troy Morgan
Town Clerk:
Angela Woodson
Town Attorney:
Donald H. Barton
EVENTS:
Board of Alderman Meeting: Second Tuesday of the Month in Town Hall at 6pm
Scheduled Meetings:
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Rosman Town Hall
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Rosman Town Hall
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Rosman Town Hall
UTILITIES:
Average Number of Customers per Month - 400
SEE FEE SCHEDULE:
SCHOOLS:
The schools in the Rosman area include Rosman Elementary & TC Henderson Elementary, Rosman Middle and Rosman High School. Rosman's athletic teams mascot is the Tigers.
HISTORY:
Known first as Jeptha, Rosman became known as Toxaway into the beginning of the 20th Century. Because this caused confusion with the nearby resort town of Lake Toxaway (10 miles to the west), in 1903 the name was changed to Eastatoe. The citizens apparently did not like the new name, so Joseph Silversteen (local industrialist) gave the town the name Rosman in 1905. The name came from two of Mr. Silversteen's business associates, Joseph Rosenthal and Morris Osmansky.
Early landowners included Sarah and William Paxton, who lived all their married lives in the Cherryfield area, George Isaac Glazener, George Washington Galloway, John Owen and James Owen. Many of their descendants still live in the area.
In 1857, Giles Glazener Jr. (descendent of both George Isaac Glazener and James Owen) gave property for a church and school to the trustees of the Church of Christ at the Zion Meeting Place. This school served the families of the surrounding area for nearly 50 years. The school was moved to the Presbyterian Church, later known as the Methodist Church, in Rosman when they outgrew the Zion building. Zion Baptist Church continued on the property until 1950 when it moved across the river onto Rosman's Main Street.
Rosman's first schoolhouse dates back to 1857. Prior to that time, school was held at the Zion church. By 1906, the town had grown and Elizabeth Silversteen petitioned the county for funds to establish a new school set up in the old Methodist church. Encouraged by his wife, Joseph Silversteen later donated enough land and money for a five room wooden building.
When the railroad was completed in 1895, it changed everything. Rosman went from a quiet settlement to a booming industrial town. Joseph Silversteen had the biggest impact on the community, establishing Toxaway Tanning Co. in 1902, Gloucester Lumber in 1911, and Rosman Tanning and Extract in 1912. Jobs became plentiful, with the added benefit of company housing. The new company store was so popular that it stayed open late — sometimes until midnight — helping customers from Rosman and Brevard alike. Company workers were paid with script, a company form of cash.
After establishing the Toxaway Tanning Company in 1902, Joseph Silversteen purchased 20 thousand acres from the Vanderbilt Estate and started the Gloucester Lumber Company in 1910. Lumbering started in earnest, supplying the mill and the extract plant with materials needed to keep Silversteen Industries growing. As the town’s population increased, more businesses sprung up to serve the people’s needs.
According to Bradstreet’s Business Directory, by 1917, the town of Rosman was home to six general stores, two sawmills, a drug store and a hotel.
In 1922, a $25,000 brick high school was built and due to the great efforts of Principal Ockerman, it was accredited in 1923. Many families moved to the Rosman area to take advantage of the excellent schools. The High School's first sport team was a basketball team. In the 1929-30 season, both boys and girls teams were undefeated.
Joseph Silversteen was a leading industrialist in Transylvania County at the time. The Silversteens lived in the same community as the workers for their numerous businesses including: the Toxaway Tanning Company, Gloucester Lumber Company, Rosman Tanning Extract Company and the Transylvania Tanning Company. Located near the intersection of New Town Road and West Main Street in Rosman, their home was often a center for Christmas celebrations that they opened to the public, including to their workers. The Silversteens moved into their downtown Brevard mansion in 1917. Their original Transylvania County residence in Rosman stood for many years until structural damage left it beyond repair and it had to be demolished.
As the logging boom faded, Rosman continued to keep a stable population of around 500 from the year 1930 forward. Many local businesses were active during these years. In the 1930s, the Fisher Brothers ran a café, as did A. M. Pharr, and later Ernest C. Pangle.
The Whites, Winchesters, Glazeners, J.W. Owens, and Morris & Company ran general stores. The Hayes and the Winchesters ran garages, and Austin Hogsed had an auto repair shop.
There was a drug store, and Mrs. Nathan Galloway ran a millinery. Rosman Knitting Mills was formed in 1938. The business manufactured socks, but did not stay open very long. Other businesses operating in Rosman around this time were the Rosman Rock Quarry and the Rosman Realty Company.
NASA built and began operations at the Rosman Spaceflight Tracking Station in 1963. During NASA's tenure the station supported a number of space projects, including the Apollo and Apollo-Soyuz missions. In 1981, the facility was converted by the Department of Defense for use as a Communications Research Station. The facility was used to intercept telephone or other communication traffic carried by commercial and other communication satellites in geostationary orbit over the Western hemisphere. Today, it is the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI), a public nonprofit foundation staffed largely by volunteers, used for research and education.
GEOGRAPHY:
Rosman is located at 35°8′41″N 82°49′22″W (35.144755, -82.822789).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2), all of it land.
Within the town limits of Rosman and to the south of the town limits, U.S. 178 is called Pickens Highway, referring to Pickens, South Carolina.
Rosman sits on the eastern boundary of Pisgah National Forest.
The French Broad River runs through the town of Rosman. There is a U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge, station number 03439000, on the French Broad River in Rosman, whilst the climate is very wet, with a mean annual rainfall since 1936 of 79.54 inches (2,020.3 mm), one of the highest in the US east of the Cascades. The record annual rainfall of 129.60 inches (3,291.8 mm) in 1964 is the second heaviest for a calendar year within this region, only 0.54 inches (13.7 mm) behind Mount Washington’s record from 1969.
DEMOGRAPHICS:
As of the census of 2020, there were 701 people, 240 households, and 104 families residing in the town. There were 240 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 20.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. The median income for a individual in the town was $28,705, and the median income for a family was $43,281.
CAMPS:
Rosman is home to The Wilds Christian Camp and Conference Center, as well as Ridge Haven.
