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History · Rock Island

Rock Island’s post office opened in 1897, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rock Island began

When was Rock Island founded?

1897

The Rock Island post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 228129 years
Founding year: the first Rock Island post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rock Island’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 Island are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rock Island’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rock Island’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 Island, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1897.

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Rock Island on the map, 1956 to 1981

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

Rock Island on the 1956 USGS mapRock Island on the 1965 USGS mapRock Island on the 1981 USGS map1956Glidden 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 Island.

Every building

Rock Island, building by building, 1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Rock Island fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Rock Island’s history

What year was Rock Island founded?

The Rock Island post office opened in 1897, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.