Rock is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Cowley County, Kansas Cowley County (county code CL) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 34,549. Its county seat is Winfield, and its most populous city is Arkansas City. History For millennia, the l ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community and nearby areas was 94.

History

19th century

The post office was established August 12, 1870. In 1877, the

Florence, El Dorado, and Walnut Valley Railroad Company The Florence, El Dorado, and Walnut Valley Railroad was a short-line railroad in central Kansas. History In 1877, the ''Florence, El Dorado, and Walnut Valley Railroad Company'' built a branch line from Florence to El Dorado. In 1881, it was exten ...

built a branch line from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

, in 1881 it was extended to Douglass, and later to Arkansas City. The line was leased and operated by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

. The line from

was abandoned in 1942. The original branch line connected

Burns Burns may refer to: * Burn, an injury (plural) People: * Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters Business: * Burns London, a British guitar maker Places: ;In the United States * Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...

, De Graff,

, Augusta, Douglass, Rock,

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, Winfield, Arkansas City.

20th century

In 1905, the nearby

Bucher Bridge The Bucher Bridge, located off U.S. Route 77 near the town of Rock in Cowley County, Kansas, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is located about north and west of Rock. Also known as Eight Mile Creek Bridge, the ...

, on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, was built. On August 24, 1978, the community was evacuated when a major oxidizer spill at a Titan II ICBM site (533-7) 2.5 miles south of Rock. The spill resulted in the deaths of 2 airmen that were based out of the

381st Strategic Missile Wing Space Delta 1 (DEL 1) is a United States Space Force unit responsible for space training. It runs the Space Force's basic military training, weapons school, and other advanced training courses and exercises. It was established on 23 August 20 ...

McConnell Air Force Base McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States., effective 2007-12-20 The airbase was named in ...

, approximately 20 miles away.

21st century

In 2010, the

Keystone XL Pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Albert ...

was constructed about 2.5 miles west of Rock, north to south through Butler County, with much controversy over tax exemption and environmental concerns (if a leak ever occurs).Keystone Pipeline - ''TransCanada inspecting pipeline''; December 10, 2010.
/ref> A pumping station named ''Rock'' was built along the pipeline.

Demographics

For statistical purposes, the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

has defined Rock as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP).

Education

The community is served by Udall USD 463 public school district.

References

External links

* Cowley County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT
History of Rock, Kansas

Keystone Oil Pipeline
Detailed system map (near Rock) {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Cowley County, Kansas Unincorporated communities in Kansas