Rock Hill’s post office opened in 1841, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #86 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Rock Hill was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1957. Its Register listing is the Fairfax House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1933 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Rock Hill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1929.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rock Hill’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rock Hill is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #86 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rock Hill’s overall grade.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Rock Hill’s 2.1 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1929.
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 Hill’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
James Collier Marshall settled what became Rock Hill around 1832. He and his brother John Marshall purchased 800 acres along Manchester Road where he and his brother built a log building that operated as a home and store.
In 1839 James built a two-story weatherboard home, naming it "Fairfax" after a family friend in Maryland, Albert Kirby Fairfax, Lord Fairfax of Cameron. A year later the property was divided between James and John Marshall when James married Elizabeth Kyle McCausland (she is related to the Robert Campbell Family of St. Louis through the Kyles). Fairfax was completed the following year. James and Elizabeth had five children who lived to maturity. A son, Ernest, the only to marry and have children, raised two sons.
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.
The Rock Hill post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1929.
How does Rock Hill rank for history?
Rock Hill is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #86 of 247 in Missouri. 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 Hill?
One place: the Fairfax House (listed 2004).
How old are the homes in Rock Hill?
10% of Rock Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.
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