Rosman is a town in Transylvania County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Rosman had a population of 701. The northern terminus of U.S. Route 178 is less than one mile northwest of Rosman on U.S. Route 64.
The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute is located approximately six miles north of Rosman, near Balsam Grove.
History
Known first by European Americans as Jeptha, the settlement was known as "Toxaway" in the early 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 name of a historic Cherokee town in the area. It was also the name for nearby Eastatoe Gap and Eastatoe Falls. The Cherokee word for the Carolina parakeet was eastatoe.
Town residents promoted another change, and Joseph Silversteen (a local industrialist) suggested Rosman in 1905, after two of his business associates, Joseph Rosenthal and Morris Osmansky. This was approved.
Geography
thumb|right|Welcome sign
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.
Within the town limits of Rosman and to the south of the town limits, U.S. Route 178 is called Pickens Highway, referring to Pickens, South Carolina. South of Rosman, the highway continues across mountainous terrain through a series of switchback curves into South Carolina, eventually reaching Pickens.
Rosman sits on the eastern boundary of Pisgah National Forest.
The French Broad River runs through the town of Rosman. The river's origin, where the North Fork French Broad and the West Fork French Broad converge to form the river proper, lies just west of the town. A USGS stream gauge station, number 03439000, is located on the French Broad River in Rosman.
The climate is very wet, with a mean annual rainfall since 1936 of —one of the highest in the US east of the Cascades. The record annual rainfall of in 1964 is the second heaviest for a calendar year within this region, only behind Mount Washington’s record from 1969.
Demographics
2020 census
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Rosman racial composition
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)
| 568
| 81.03%
|-
!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
| 15
| 2.14%
|-
!scope="row"| Native American
| 7
| 1.0%
|-
!scope="row"| Other/Mixed
| 44
| 6.28%
|-
!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino
| 67
| 9.56%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 701 people, 240 households, and 104 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census