The History of Ross Avenue



Date Occurrence
1800s Records show that Carondelet (a Spanish colonial leader) was the original name of what is now Ross Avenue.
1854 Ross brothers, both born in Georgia, settle in Smith County, Texas.
August 1862-May 1865 Andrew J. Ross enrolls as a Confederate in the Texas 22nd Infantry Regimen in Tyler, TX
Unknown dates William W. Ross becomes a private in the 9th Texas Calvary as a Confederate.
1866-1867 William W. Ross arrives in Dallas, followed by Andrew J. Ross
November 1868 Ross brothers are part of the building committee for new church facility on Lamar Street
December 3, 1868 The City of Dallas minutes show that the avenue in question is officially known as Ross Avenue.
1870-1880 One finds in the Dallas Herald countless references to the brothers and their property transactions.
1873 First Dallas City Directory is published which shows Ross brothers as residents of Ross Avenue.
Unknown dates William Ross is the owner of 18 acres of apples, pears, peaches and apricots.
1875 William Ross serves as one of the vice-presidents of the Texas State Horticultural and Pomological Association.
November 1899 William W. Ross dies. He is remembered as a practical gardener and orchard man; he [served as] the government crop reporter for many years.
September 1905 Andrew J. Ross dies. He was remembered as “an enthusiastic sportsman, fond of hunting dogs”.
Between 1930 and 1938 The name Carondelet was deleted from City of Dallas maps
April 2008 The Dallas City Council's Trinity River committee seeks public input on renaming Industrial Boulevard.
June 2008 The public input on renaming Industrial Blvd includes 20,394 voters of which 52% vote in favor of César Chávez.
June 2008 The council's Trinity River committee [votes] to postpone until Aug. 5 a vote on Industrial's new name in hopes of crafting a compromise that probably would prevent the road from being named for civil rights pioneer César Chávez.
August 2008 The Trinity River Project Committee decides to make Ross Avenue the focus of the name changing effort.
TBA Ross Avenue is renamed César Chávez Avenue...

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