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Just four miles east of
St. James,
Missouri, old
Route 66 winds through the
small unincorporated hamlet of Rosati, originally settled in 1845. The
community was first called Knobview, for three high hills overlooking the
area from the south.
The first store was built by a
man named Thomas Kinsey, Jr., the first resident of the area. Soon after,
a U.S. survey of the region was conducted and when it was completed in the
1850's, land was offered to any company who would build a railroad through
central
Missouri. In the summer of 1860, the Pacific Railroad
arrived at Knobview and the general store became known as Kinsey's
Station, which also housed the settlement's first post office. Knobview
grew slowly and by 1898 the post office closed. However, the railroad
began to sell excess land at reasonable prices and before long, a number
of Italian immigrants arrived. Though it was difficult in the beginning
for them to make a living, new businesses began to sprout up including two
stores, a saloon, canning plant, a new post office, a school, and a
church.
These first Italian immigrants also
attempted to plant grape varieties from Italy, but after having no
success, they grew Concord grapes, used in juice, which became the
predominant variety for many decades.
In 1906, the St. Anthony Catholic
Church was built, which continues to stand today. In 1934, the
town was renamed after the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese
of
St. Louis, the Italian-born Joseph Rosati.
Rosati town folk have lived
primarily an agricultural lifestyle for decades, but in the 1970's,
Welch's began to decrease the number of contracts to purchase the growers'
Concord grapes and by the 1990's had stopped altogether. The small
population adapted and local growers then started replacing the vines with
wine grape varieties.
By the 1930s, more than 250,000 vines were producing
grapes along
Route 66. Today, Rosati produces approximately 175 acres of grapes,
with some vines more than eighty years old.
Today, most of the old vineyards
are gone, with modern, irrigated
vineyards having replaced them. However,
Route 66 travelers can still see
vineyards and grape stands. The main business in Rosati - the Rosati
Winery, which operated for more than 70 years, is unfortunately closed
today.
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