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History · Rock Mills

Rock Mills’ post office opened in 1847, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1890.

1847first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Rock Mills began

When was Rock Mills founded?

1847

The Rock Mills post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 385 in 18902020 census: 603179 years
Founding year: the first Rock Mills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rock Mills’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rock Mills are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1900 and 1920, then more than doubled.On the map since 18995 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1983. Watch Rock Mills change.Deep rootsA post office since 1847: 179 years of Rock Mills.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rock Mills’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rock Mills’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Rock Mills, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020420 in 1900Low: 267

Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1920, then more than doubled.

7 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rock Mills’ Wikipedia page.

On the map

Rock Mills on the map, 1899 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rock Mills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Rock Mills on the 1899 USGS mapRock Mills on the 1902 USGS mapRock Mills on the 1969 USGS mapRock Mills on the 1978 USGS mapRock Mills on the 1983 USGS map1899Wedowee sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rock Mills.

The story so far

Rock Mills, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rock Mills yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Rock Mills is a census-designated place (CDP) in Randolph County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, Rock Mills had a population of 603. According to the U.S. Census, from 1890 until the 1920s, Rock Mills was an incorporated community. It was later designated a CDP beginning in 2000.

Its first post office opened in 1847. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 600 in 2010, 603 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Rock Mills, 1847 to 2000

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1847Post officeThe Rock Mills post office opens
  3. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1955Post officeThe Rock Mills post office closes
  6. 21st century
  7. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 676
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Rock Mills

Nobody well known was born in Rock Mills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Elijah KelleyAmerican actor and singer · b. 1986
Forrest Hood James, Jr.American politician, 48th Governor of Alabama · b. 1934
Barry BuchananAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1968
Bo CallawayAmerican politician and businessman · b. 1927
B
Brian WestAmerican soccer player · b. 1978
F
Fred NewmanAmerican actor, voice actor, composer, comedian… · b. 1952
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Rock Mills had its own post office from 1847 to 1955.

Rock Mills
1847–1955
18401930today
1cemetery inside Rock Mills
Randolph Memory Gardens

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Rock Mills’ history

What year was Rock Mills founded?

The Rock Mills post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikidata (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.