Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1880.
Rockville dates its founding to 1868 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Rockville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rockville. 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 Rockville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rockville.
Rockville was laid out in 1868. The city was named from local white sandstone quarries. A post office called Rockville has been in operation since 1871.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Rockville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Robert Belcher settled in Rockville township in section 11, in 1838 and he died in 1856. A man by the name of Bridges, a blacksmith by trade, settled on the Osage river south of the town of Rockville about this time. William Anderson settled two and a half miles west of Rockville in 1837. and died in 1858. Berry Hunt, the first shoemaker, came in the fall of 1838, and settled on the river in the southeast corner of the county and township. Matt Millering and John N. Belcher came respectively in 1856 and 1855. William and Wiseman Hollingsworth
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tural pursuits practically all his life, was born and reared on the farm and has spent his entire life up to the time of this writing engaged in farm work. He is now the owner of a fine farm, comprising two hundred thirty acres of land in Rockville township, a beautiful country place located four miles west of Rockville. The improvements on "Shaw Branch Stock Farm" include a barn, 48 x 66 feet in dimensions, built in 1904, frame of native lumber, having a silo inside of barn. 14 X 30 feet in dimensions, one of the best in Rockville township ; a large
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Peaked at 580 in 1900; 135 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rockville’s Wikipedia page.
Rockville’s post office has been open since 1871.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1868, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Rockville’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 315 people here.
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 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.
