railroad route about three miles east of Floresville, which directed the railroad along its present route and in addition established a new roadway from San Antonio to Corpus Christi.  The railroad construction passed through the Poth area in 1886.  A railroad switch and siding was constructed at this point to meet the construction and operation requirements of this railroad.  This switch point was designated as "Marcelina Switch."  In the first years of the railroad operation, cattle pens were constructed at this switch point and used to ship out cattle gathered from local ranches. 
The community was settled primarily in the early 1900's with second and third generation families of German heritage.  The principal landowner of the Poth town site at this time was Mary K. Jones, a member of the Dilworth family whose ranching interests extended from the San Antonio River east all the way to the ranching headquarters in Gonzales.  In 1901, to indicate community development in the area, she offered land to Frank Stortz to build and operate a store and offered additional land to Arnold H. Poth to build and operate a cotton gin.  Arnold .H. Poth then took the initiative to apply for a post office designation for the community.  Three names were submitted to the U.S. Postal Service for consideration, Marcelina, Jonesville, and Poth.  The first two names were rejected because Marcelina and Jonesville were already designated post offices in Texas.  Poth then became the name of the post office and Arnold H. Poth was appointed as its first postmaster.  As a result of all his hard work, Arnold H. Poth is considered to be Poth's founder.
In 1905, Mary Jones had the town site surveyed, plotted, and recorded at the courthouse in Floresville.  In 1906, the community began to grow with homes being built, the railroad constructing a