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History · Rockland Township

Rockland Township’s post office opened in 1853, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1956 on.

1853first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rockland Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rockland Township began

When was Rockland Township founded?

1853

The Rockland Township post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Rockland (1853), Minesota Mine (1857) and National (1861), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 226173 years
Founding year: the first Rockland Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rockland Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Rockland Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Rockland Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rockland
1853–1860
Minesota Mine
1857–1861
National
1861–1863
Rockland
1863–today
Victoria
1899–1923
Victoria
1930–1935
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Old Victoria Historic TownsiteRocklandVictoria
Gone or out of use
Caledonia MinemineVictoria Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rockland Township
Irish HollowMethodist RoseOld Indian Burial GroundsWoodawn

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

Help out

Start Rockland Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewVictoria Dam, West branch of Ontonagon …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Rockland Township, in brief

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

Rockland is a census-designated place (CDP) and the primary community in Rockland Township, Ontonagon County, Michigan, United States. It is along US Highway 45, which leads north 11 miles (18 km) to its terminus at Ontonagon on Lake Superior, and south 61 miles (98 km) to Eagle River, Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, Rockland had a population of 173. Rockland was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1853. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 228 in 2010, 226 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Rockland Township, 1853 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Rockland post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe Minesota Mine post office opens
  4. 1860Post officeThe Rockland post office closes
  5. 1861Post officeThe Minesota Mine post office closes
  6. 1861Post officeThe National post office opens
  7. 1863Post officeThe National post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Rockland Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Victoria Dam, West branch of Ontonagon River, 4.5 miles southwest of RocklandDate?Victoria Dam, West branch of Ontonagon River, 4.5 mil…
On the map

Rockland Township on the map, 1956 to 1999

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

Rockland Township on the 1956 USGS mapRockland Township on the 1982 USGS mapRockland Township on the 1999 USGS map1956Matchwood 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 Rockland Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Victoria Dam, West branch of Ontonagon River, 4.5 miles southwest of Rockland
Retake this viewVictoria Dam, West branch of Ontonagon River, 4.5 miles southwest of Rockland

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rockland Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ontonagon Township4 historic placesAStannard TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcMillan Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreenland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMatchwood TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rockland Township’s history

What year was Rockland Township founded?

The Rockland Township post office opened in 1853, 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 the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.