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History · Rockvale

Rockvale’s post office opened in 1882, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Rockvale began

When was Rockvale founded?

1882

The Rockvale post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rockdale (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 870 in 19002020 census: 511144 years
Founding year: the first Rockvale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rockvale’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rockvale’s collection

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

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

Rockvale, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,413

Peaked at 1,413 in 1910; 511 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story so far

Rockvale, in brief

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

Rockvale is a statutory town in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The population was 511 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 487 to 511 (+5%).

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

Timeline

Rockvale, 1882 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Rockdale post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Rockdale post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Rockvale post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 1,413
  7. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Rockvale, decade by decade

On the map

Rockvale on the map, 1959 to 1994

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

Rockvale on the 1959 USGS mapRockvale on the 1994 USGS map1959Rockvale sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Rockvale

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

See all →
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Rockvale’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Rockdale, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rockdale
1882–1882
Rockvale
1882–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Rockvale Minemine

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Rockvale’s history

What year was Rockvale founded?

The Rockvale post office opened in 1882, 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 Wikimedia Commons (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.