In 1911 a newly formed community was divided about the name of
the new town. Half of the community wanted to name the town, Du
Plessisville - after a respected citizen, while the other half
wanted to name the town after Paul Roux, the minister of the Dutch
Reformed Church in Senekal, the closest church to the town.
The people decided to get a big piece of dolomite (ironstone).
On the one side they wrote the initials PR and on the other side
the initials DPV. One of the men, Mr Koos Smit, was asked to throw
the stone as far as possible - the side on which the stone lands
will indicate what the name of the town would be. The town was thus
named Paul Roux after the stone landed with the initials PR facing
up.
Paul Roux is situated on the old stagecoach route between
Harrismith and Winburg and as such served as halfway post for
changing the stagecoach horses. Whenever the stage-coach was
nearing the town, a horn sounded, and the new set of horses were
prepared so no delay was experienced by the passengers during the
exchange of the horses.