Rockville is a former

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in Delaware County,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, United States. Bordering

Dubuque County Dubuque County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,266, making it the eighth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Dubuque. The county is named for Julien Dubuque, the first Eur ...

within the North Fork Township, it was approximately 3 miles northwest of

Worthington Worthington may refer to: People * Worthington (surname) * Worthington family, a British noble family Businesses * Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington's * Worthington Corporation, founded as a pump manufacturer in 1845, later a dive ...

and 1.5 miles west of today's

Iowa Highway 136 Iowa Highway 136 (Iowa 136) is a state highway maintained by the Iowa Department of Transportation. It runs for in eastern Iowa. It begins at the Mississippi River in Clinton on the Mark Morris Memorial Bridge, where it continues as Illinois ...

History

Rockville was founded in 1845 by Oliver A. Olmstead. Second only to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, it was one of the oldest towns in Delaware County. The area served as an important trading point and included a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, hotel, and various stores. Slightly predating Rockville's establishment, a log schoolhouse was built in 1843. This would be rebuilt in brick after burning down ten years after its founding. During this era, Rockville served as a

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

stop for those heading west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. The Rockville post office opened June 15, 1846 with Olmstead serving as postmaster, and a hotel was opened for travelers of the Western Stage Company. The town's popularity even saw Charles W. Hobbs, one of the first settlers in Delhi, relocating to Rockville in 1850. Hobbs subsequently opened a store which allegedly found great success. However, Rockville's prosperity would not last in the face of its developing neighbors. The town's proverbial death knell came not long after the

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

and Pacific Railroad Company began building rails in the newly formed town of

Dyersville Dyersville is a city in eastern Delaware County and western Dubuque County in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,477 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 4,035 in 200 ...

. Rockville's post office closed for the second and final time on May 31, 1898. As Delhi and Dyersville grew, the town's role as a stagecoach declined and would virtually vanish by the end of the 19th century. Rockville's population in 1915 was just 1. Today, the area is recognized simply as a

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

area on the outskirts of Worthington. Remnants of its history can be seen in Rockville Cemetery, which includes veterans of the

Civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and Mexican Wars, and the nearby remains of an old

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

, which resides at the North Fork of the

Maquoketa River The Maquoketa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 in northeastern Iowa in the United States. I ...

. The hilly area, still traversed by

gravel road A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unite ...

s, now consists primarily of farms and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

Geography

Rockville is located at (42.4186086 -91.1420837), at an elevation of 925 feet (282 m).

References

{{authority control Former populated places in Iowa Geography of Delaware County, Iowa Populated places established in 1845 Unincorporated communities in Iowa 1845 establishments in Iowa Territory