Rock Island’s post office opened in 1825, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #17 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
19 places in town are on the National Register, among them five historic districts with 1,075 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1850.
From Rock Island’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Rock Island began
When was Rock Island founded?
1825
The Rock Island post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1841. Another post office, Stephenson (1835), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,711 in 18502020 census: 37,108201 years
How historic is Rock Island?
A+
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Rock Island post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1841.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rock Island’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rock Island is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #17 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rock Island’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Rock Island’s 303 sits above most of its state (97% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1,096 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1841 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Rock Island’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The original portion of what is now known as Rock Island was called Farnhamsburg – after the original two homes were built by Colonel George Davenport and Russell Farnham in 1826. Davenport and Farnham were business partners, trading with the local Native Americans. The original city plat was filed on July 10, 1835, and was named Stephenson. It was renamed Rock Island in March 1841.
The southern portion of Rock Island, including today's Watch Hill area, was originally known as Searstown. It was named after David B. Sears, who built the Sears Power Dam on the Rock River. Searstown was annexed by Rock Island in 1915.
Passages that mention Rock Island, cut from the printed page as they were published.
War's greatest workshop, Rock Island arsenal1922 · page 132Read the page →
Read the text
View to left is of the famous Rock Island "Silver Engine" of the early seventies. to build a line through Iowa to the Missouri river and to bridge the Mississippi at Rock Island was informally launched.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
War's greatest workshop, Rock Island arsenal1922 · page 283Read the page →
Read the text
Advent in 1854 of the Chicago & Rock Island railroad, the first to reach the Mississippi from the east, gave Rock Island a pronounced boom. The place for a time was the sole junction point on the river of rail and water transportation lines. Population grew rapidly. Business increased. Industries, provided with shipping facilities which were exceptional in that day, sprang up. The village became a city. Rock Island's fame spread, reaching even across the Atlantic. From northern Europe came immigrants, the most desirable class that ever landed upon our shores. They came look-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Official book of the Fort Armstrong centennial celebration1916Read the page →
Read the text
sprung up around it came to be known as Farnhamsburg, and was the "metropolis" of the locality until the town of Stephenson came into existence in 1835. This gave place to the city of Rock Island in 1841. Col. Davenport continued to live on the island of Kock Island until his mm-der on July 4, 1845. Col. Davenport's two sons, George L. and Bailey, also passed their lives here and reached prominence as citizens and land owners on both sides of the Mississippi.
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
Rock Island, 1825 to 1995
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rock Island. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Davenport 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 Rock Island.
Every building
Rock Island, building by building, 1886–1906
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.
The Rock Island post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1841.
How does Rock Island rank for history?
Rock Island is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #17 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Rock Island?
19 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Denkmann-Hauberg House (listed 1972, the first), and 5 historic districts with 1,075 contributing buildings. 1,096 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Rock Island?
33% of Rock Island’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1954.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (19), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, 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.
1865
1865
1869
c. 1870
1874
1888
