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–Not graded
History · Rock Township

41% of Rock Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1931 on.

0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
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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 1953.
★ 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.
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The story

How Rock Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rock Township.

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Homesteading in Rock Township began in the early 1880s, even though the Indian reservation did not officially open to settlers until 1904. James McLaughlin, who had been the chief Indian agent at the local Bureau of Indian Affairs agency on the reservation, reached an agreement with the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe which permitted settlement by non-tribal members. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed homesteading the area officially open on June 2, 1904.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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, 1931 to 1975

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

Rock Township on the 1931 USGS mapRock Township on the 1951 USGS mapRock Township on the 1975 USGS map1931Oberon 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 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.

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William L. GuyAmerican politician · b. 1919
P
Phyllis FrelichAmerican actress · b. 1944
G
Glenn HansenAmerican basketball player · b. 1952
Grant NelsonAmerican basketball player · b. 2002
D
David Anthony KraftAmerican comic book writer, publisher and critic · b. 1952
D
Dennis JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1949
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Gates TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOberon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTwin Tree TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLallie TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rock Township’s history

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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.