Most of Rockville was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Clark and McCormack Quarry and House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Rockville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 2002.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rockville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rockville is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rockville’s overall grade.
Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Rockville’s 8.2 sits above most of its state (73% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 2002.
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 Rockville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
According to the local oral tradition, a village of the Dakota people was once located to the north of the lake.
The parish cemetery in nearby Jacobs Prairie, Minnesota includes the grave of early Rockville pioneer Michael Hanson, Sr. Hanson was already an elderly immigrant when he arrived as a homesteader with his sons and many of his grandchildren from the Luxembourgish-speaking but Prussian-ruled village of Obersgegen. Hanson was old enough, in fact, to have been a combat veteran of the French Imperial Army who had lost a leg to enemy fire during the Napoleonic Wars. As stipulated in his last request, Hanson lies buried in St. James Cemetery next to his close friend, pioneer settler, and fellow Napoleonic Wars veteran, Herr Pieck.
Passages that mention Rockville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Stearns County, Minnesota1915 · page 1390Read the page →
Read the text
Rockville Township. The first school in the township of Rockville was taught within the present boundaries of District Number 40, the school being now known as the Mill River school, situated about a mile north of Pearl lake. Instruction was first given in the home of G. Bauer soon after the first settlement, but immediately
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Stearns County, Minnesota1915 · page 811Read the page →
Read the text
Daniel Spanier, for many years a farmer in Farming township, was born in Prussia, Germany, and there married Kate Eve. In 1852 they came to America, and settled in Fond du Lac, Wis. In 1857 they came to Stearns county and located in the north part of the township of Rockville, several miles from the village of St. Joseph. There they built a cabin, and started farming. During the Indian uprising Mr. Spanier helped to bury the dead, for having seen four years' service in the German army, he was well equipped to brave the dangers of the Indian country. In 1863 he moved to 100 acres
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, 1850 to 1967
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Rockville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 2002.
How does Rockville rank for history?
Rockville is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. 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 Rockville?
One place: the Clark and McCormack Quarry and House (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Rockville?
10% of Rockville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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 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.
2005
2002
