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History · Rockbridge

Rockbridge’s post office opened in 1856, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Cunningham Lane Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1960 on.

1856first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rockbridge’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rockbridge began

When was Rockbridge founded?

1856

The Rockbridge post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Siresville (1855) and Buck Creek (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 697170 years
Founding year: the first Rockbridge post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rockbridge’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Rockbridge, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rockbridge’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rockbridge’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCunningham Lane Bridge, Spanning Pine R…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Rockbridge had its own post office from 1856 to 1954. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Siresville
1855–1855
Rockbridge
1856–1954
Buck Creek
1869–1903
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Buck Creek
Gone or out of use
Fiddlers Green SchoolschoolHawkins Creek SchoolschoolSyresville Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Rockbridge
Rockbridge

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Rockbridge, in brief

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

Rockbridge is a town in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 697 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Rockbridge and Buck Creek are located in the town.

Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 734 to 697 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Rockbridge, 1855 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Siresville post office opens
  3. 1855Post officeThe Siresville post office closes
  4. 1856Post officeThe Rockbridge post office opens
  5. 1869Post officeThe Buck Creek post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Buck Creek post office closes
  8. 1954Post officeThe Rockbridge post office closes
  9. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Rockbridge, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Cunningham Lane Bridge, Spanning Pine River on Cunningham Lane near Highway 80Date?Cunningham Lane Bridge, Spanning Pine River on Cunnin…
On the map

Rockbridge on the map, 1960 to 1983

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

Rockbridge on the 1960 USGS mapRockbridge on the 1983 USGS map1960Richland Center 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 Rockbridge.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Cunningham Lane Bridge, Spanning Pine River on Cunningham Lane near Highway 80
Retake this viewCunningham Lane Bridge, Spanning Pine River on Cunningham Lane near Highway 80

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rockbridge’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Rockbridge

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Cunningham Lane Bridge
Cunningham Lane Bridge
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Pratt full-slope pony truss1
All 1 listings
Cunningham Lane BridgeStructure · listed 1996

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rockbridge

Nobody well known was born in Rockbridge itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Frank Lloyd WrightAmerican architect · b. 1867
Raymond Leo BurkeAmerican Catholic cardinal · b. 1948
Lynda BarryAmerican cartoonist · b. 1956
Vernon Wallace ThomsonAmerican politician · b. 1905
Otis B. ThayerActor, Director · b. 1862
Ryne DurenAmerican baseball player · b. 1929
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

WillowIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHenriettaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarshallIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRichlandIts storyC

Questions about Rockbridge’s history

What year was Rockbridge founded?

The Rockbridge post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Rockbridge?

One place: the Cunningham Lane Bridge (listed 1996).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.