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History · Rockdale

Rockdale’s post office opened in 1885, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

1885first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Rockdale began

When was Rockdale founded?

1885

The Rockdale post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 207141 years
Founding year: the first Rockdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rockdale’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 Rockdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Rockdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rockdale’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 so far

Rockdale, in brief

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

Rockdale is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 207 at the 2020 census, making it the smallest incorporated municipality in Dane County. The village is split in half by the Koshkonong Creek. It is part of the Madison, Wisconsin metropolitan area.

Its first post office opened in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 214 to 207 (-3%).

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

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.

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Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Rockdale had its own post office from 1885 to 1955.

Rockdale
1885–1955
18801950today
1cemetery inside Rockdale
Rockdale Lutheran Church

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

Questions about Rockdale’s history

What year was Rockdale founded?

The Rockdale post office opened in 1885, 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 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.