Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rockville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Tolland sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rockville.
Every building
Rockville, building by building, 1885–1903
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1726, Samuel Grant traded his farm in Bolton for 500 acres (2.0 km2) in the northern part of Bolton. This included the area which is now known as "Rockville" and for about the next century it was a nameless village. A prominent feature of the area is the Shenipsit Lake, or "The Snip" as it is currently affectionately called by the residents. The Snip feeds the Hockanum River which cascades 254 feet over 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The river was used by the farmers for a grist mill, a saw mill, an oil mill and even a distillery starting c. 1740.
Passages that mention Rockville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The early history of Tolland. An address delivered before the Tolland county historical society, at Tolland Conn., on the 22d day of August and the 27th day of September, 18611861 · page 39Read the page →
Read the text
Bloomfield, Hartford County, Conn., six years, when his relation with that people was dissolved, and he became tlie agent of the American Education Society awhile, and then the pastor of the first church in Rockville for about two years, when he was again dismissed. He was, at two different times, agent of the American Education Society, eight years, and supplied the pulpit in Colchester, Vermont, for about four years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Rockville, 1877 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1915
1915
