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History · Rock Township

Rock Township’s post office opened in 1879, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1967 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rock Township began

When was Rock Township founded?

1879

The Rock Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rock (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 164147 years
Founding year: the first Rock Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rock Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rock Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Rock Township’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rock Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Rock Township, in brief

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

Rock Township is a township in Pipestone County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 184 at the 2000 census. Rock Township was organized in 1879, and named for the Rock River.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 182 to 164 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Rock Township, 1879 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Rock post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Rock post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Rock Township on the map in 1967

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rock Township.

Rock Township on the 1967 USGS map1967Woodstock 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 Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rock Township

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

See all →
H
Harold Rawdon BriggsBritish Army general · b. 1894
Phil BrunsAmerican actor, writer · b. 1931
Vern EhlersAmerican politician · b. 1934
Bill HagerFlorida State Representative · b. 1947
Donald PetersenAmerican businessman · b. 1926
Todd BoumanAmerican football player · b. 1972
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Rock, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Pipestone County Gravel Pitmine
1cemetery inside Rock Township
Holland

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.

Grange TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBurke TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCameron TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAetna TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHollandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGray TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rock Township’s history

What year was Rock Township founded?

The Rock Township post office opened in 1879, 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 →
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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 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.