Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Rosalia was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1888 on and old-book passages.
The Rosalia post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rosalia’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rosalia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rosalia.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rosalia.
Rosalia was platted in 1883. The town was named by its first postmaster for his wife.
In 2014 and 2018, the Symphony In The Flint Hills, an outdoor symphony music event, was held a few miles northeast of Rosalia. In 2014, the attendance was over 7000 people.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Rosalia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Rosalia township took its name from that of the first postoffice established in that portion of the county. H. C. Stevens and his uncle, J. M. Stevens, came out from Mendota, Illinois, filed on homesteads and improved them. The postoffice was located at his house and in casting about for a name for it the happy thought of honoring his wife occurred to him and he called it Rosalia.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Rosalia w'as platted in September, 1883, by G. W. Chamberlain and F. G. Miller. It is now a thriving little village on the Missouri Pacific railroad, having two general stores; C. A. Blankenship and S. R. Anderson; C. F. Branson, hardware; the Rock Island Lumber Company; a State Bank, J. H. Liggett, cashier, and other business firms and all prosperous. The township has about twelve miles of railroad within its borders which assists in keeping up the school and other taxes. There have been but two county officers from Rosalia
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.
Nobody well known was born in Rosalia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Rosalia post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
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