Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Rock Island was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Rock Island Railroad Bridge. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1940.
Rock Island dates its founding to 1930 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1940.
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rock Island is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Rock Island’s 8.0 sits above most of its state (82% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
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 Rock Island’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1940 and 1970, then grew 6-fold.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rock Island’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rock Island.
Rock Island was officially incorporated on November 3, 1930. The area of Rock Island was used by Native American tribes for fishing and crossing of the Columbia River due to the nearby Rock Island Rapids prior to settlement of the Washington Territory.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltRock Island Railroad Bridge is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rock Island. 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 Rock Island.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Rock Island itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Rock Island’s post office has been open since 1931. Another post office, Hammond, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1930, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Rock Island’s post office opened in 1902, and the census of 1940 counted 377 people here.
Rock Island is more historic than 26% 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.
One place: the Rock Island Railroad Bridge (listed 1975).
4% of Rock Island’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1977.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), 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) 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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