Rowlett was first known as Morris, the name of the post office established there in 1880, with Austin Morris as the first postmaster. In 1889, three years after the Greenville & Dallas Railroad, later the MK&T, was built through town, the post office's name was changed to Rowlett. Although the origin of the name is unclear, it may have come from Daniel Owen Rowlett, an early Texas settler and surveyor for Mercer's Colony. By the turn of the century, Rowlett had two doctors, a cotton gin, three general stores, a barber shop, blacksmith shop, two churches, a depot, and the post office. By 1912 it also had a bank, a telephone exchange, and a two-story school building, and by 1937 many more businesses had begun there, including the Rowlett News newspaper. Citizens voted to incorporate in 1952, and growth continued throughout the 20th century. Lake Ray Hubbard, completed in 1971 as Dallas' chief source of water, borders Rowlett on the east, south, and west, and the town's history reflects settlement patterns in this part of Texas.