Rockville is 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, suc ...

and a village of the town of Vernon in

Tolland County, Connecticut Tolland County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, its population was 149,788. It is incorporated into 13 towns and was originally formed on 13 October 1785 from portions of eastern Ha ...

, United States. The population was 7,474 at the 2010 census. Incorporated as a city in 1889, it has been consolidated with the town of Vernon since 1965.

Geography

According to 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 th ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (1.70%) is water.

History

Early settlement

In 1726, Samuel Grant traded his farm in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

for in the northern part of Bolton. This included the area which is now known as "Rockville" and for about the next century it was a nameless village. A prominent feature of the area is the Shenipsit Lake, or "The Snip" as it is currently affectionately called by the residents. The Snip feeds the Hockanum River which cascades 254 feet over . The river was used by the farmers for a

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

, a

saw mill 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 ...

, an

oil mill An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and even a

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the hea ...

starting .

Rock Mill

In 1821, Colonel Francis McLean built the first

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, different #Fabric, fabric types, etc. At f ...

mill in what is now Rockville in partnership with George and Allyn Kellogg and Ralph Talcott, next to a spot known as "the Rock" with capital of $16,000. Francis McLean had partnered previously with some others in the Warburton Mill in Talcottville. "The Rock" was a natural dam of solid

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

that made a high falls on the Hockanum River. In what is now the center of Rockville, he dammed up the Hockanum River and built a water-powered mill known as the "Rock Mill", which was possibly also known as the McLean Woolen Factory. By 1823 his mill was in full operation. The new mill was 80 by 30 feet, and its product was blue and blue-mix

satinet Satinet is a finely woven fabric with a finish resembling satin, but made partly or wholly from cotton or synthetic fiber. The fibers may be natural (as with cotton, woolens or cashmere wool) or synthetic. In the United States of America The pr ...

. In 1826 power looms were introduced. The mill attracted people to this area and by 1836 the population grew to 440 consisting of 61 families including 89 children under the age of 10.

Name

Mail service was brought once a day by

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 dra ...

from Vernon Center, which was the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

and place for voting for the town. In 1837, according to old records, "an amateurish notice was posted on the Rock Mill announcing a public meeting in the lecture room of the village to decide in a democratic way the most suitable name for the vicinity". In order to have their own

the town needed a permanent name. *The following were some of the recommendations for naming the town. **Frankfort – in honor of Francis Mclean builder of the "Rock Mill" **Vernon Falls **Grantville – in honor of Samuel Grant the first settler **Hillborough – because the terrain is so hilly Simon Chapman, who ran a boarding house for mill workers, submitted the name "Rockville" as common expression understood by the surrounding areas was "Going to the Rock". Thus, Rockvillle became the official name. It was not until 1842, however, that Rockville actually acquired its own

Rockville Historic District

Most of Rockville has been designated as part of the Rockville Historic District. The district is roughly bounded by Shenipsit Street, Davis Avenue, West Street and South Street was added in 1984 to 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 ...

. The district includes 842 buildings and one other structure. It includes examples of Greek Revival, Late Victorian, and Classical Revival architecture. The historic district includes 842 buildings and one other structure over . The Kellogg House had been used by the State Department of Children and Families to house troubled youth under a contract with Community Solutions, Inc. This arrangement ended on May 2, 2006 after a long history of documented mismanagement by both agencies. The facility is now used for adult transitional housing. Elm Street, Park Street, and one

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

of Prospect Street surround a small town

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

named Talcott Park. The houses represent a variety of Victorian architectural styles ranging from early nineteenth century

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

through the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

styles down to the Victorian eclecticism of the 1880s and 1890s. The mill owners usually built their houses in the

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

area. The surviving buildings grouped around Central Park are a continuing reminder of the wealth brought by the woolen industry and the town's aspirations to be a leading city in the state during the 19th century. On or about November 1, 2007, the light fixtures that sat beside the library steps were stolen. Both fixtures were made of copper shaped into globes. They weighed over one hundred pounds each and were installed as part of the original construction. Buildings of architectural or historic interest in Rockville include: * St. Bernard Church *Memorial Building housing currently the

New England Civil War Museum The New England Civil War Museum and Research Center was originally started by local Civil War veterans in 1896. It was not until March 1994 that it was formally established as a museum and opened to the public. It is located within the Memorial ...

and the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy ( U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, ...

Hall as well as the town offices for Vernon. * Old Rockville High School and East School *(#10 and #12) Ellington Ave. *Francis T. Maxwell House also known as Maxwell Court *Rockville National Bank * Union Congregational Church *Citizen's Block * Rockville Methodist Episcopal Church *Memorial Building *Fitch Block *George Maxwell Memorial Library *Kellogg House *Turn Halle *Erhardt Linck's Hall *70 Village Street *George Sykes House (first) * Hockanum Mill *

Saxony Mill The Saxony Mill was a historic textile mill complex at 66 West Street in Rockville section of Vernon, Connecticut. With a construction history dating to 1836, it was one of the oldest surviving wood-frame textile mills in the state prior to a 199 ...

* Springville Mill * Florence Mill *Henry Huhnken's Saloon *New England Yard *Castle Sunset * The Tower on Fox Hill *

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul comp ...

, since destroyed to make room for a bigger parking lot for Rockville General Hospital. *Maple Street School

Gallery

File:StJoseptRockvilleCT1.jpg, St. Joseph's Church in downtown. File:PostcardGeorgeMaxwellMemLibraryRockvilleCT.jpg, George Maxwell Memorial Library, postcard mailed in 1911. File:VernonCT MinterburnMill.jpg, Minterburn Mill after becoming an apartment complex. File:PostcardRockvilleCTHockanumMfgCo1909.jpg, Hockanum Manufacturing Co., . File:The Tower on Fox Hill, Vernon Connecticut USA.JPG, The Tower on Fox Hill, the village's highest peak. File:Hockanum River Flowing Through Rockville Connecticut.jpg, The Hockanum Mill today.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 7,474 people, 3,292 households, and 1,681 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 3,682 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 76.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

(70.8%

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Am ...

), 11.7%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.4% Native American, 3.3% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 4.5% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 4.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 12.2% of the population. There were 3,292 households, out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.6% were married couples living together, 19.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.9% were non-families. 39.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.98. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 20, 17.8% from 20 to 29, 19.8% from 30 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $40,451, and the median income for a family was $40,714. Males working year-round and full-time had a median income of $48,159 versus $37,865 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $23,079. About 24.5% of families and 22.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 37.1% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Jahine Arnold (born 1973), NFL wide receiver * Stephen Farrell (1863–1933), world champion sprinter and track coach * Stephanie A. Gallagher (born 1972), United States District Judge *

Alice Belle Garrigus Alice Belle Garrigus (August 2, 1858 in Rockville, Connecticut – August 30, 1949 in Clarke's Beach, Newfoundland) was a Pentecostal evangelist and a founder of the Pentecostal church in Newfoundland and Labrador. She spent the first half of her ...

(1858–1949), Evangelist & Founder-Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland & Labrador, Born in Rockville *

William Churchill Hammond William Churchill Hammond (November 25, 1860 – April 15, 1949) was an American organist, choirmaster, and music educator. He is noted for being one of the founding members of the American Guild of Organists, and for a lengthy tenure on the fac ...

(1860-1949), organist and music educator, born in Rockville. * Edward Stevens Henry (1836–1921), U.S. Congressman * Morgan Lewis (1906–1968), songwriter and

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

composer * Dwight Loomis (1821–1903), U.S. Congressman * Dwight Marcy (1840–1887), Connecticut State Representative *

Mary Mattingly Mary Mattingly (born September 8, 1978) is an American visual artist living and working in New York City. She was born in Rockville, Connecticut in 1978. She has studied at Parsons School of Design in New York, and received her Bachelor of Fine ...

(born 1979), visual artist *

Ralph Murphy Ralph Murphy (May 1, 1895 – February 10, 1967) was an American film and television director. Born in Rockville, Connecticut, Murphy was active in films from 1931 through 1962, with some work in television. From 1941 to 1944 he was married to ...

(1895–1967), film director * Stuart J. Murphy (born 1942), children's book author * Kenneth North (1930–2010), U.S. Air Force brigadier general *

Bob Pease Robert Allen Pease (August 22, 1940 – June 18, 2011) was an electronics engineer known for analog integrated circuit (IC) design, and as the author of technical books and articles about electronic design. He designed several very successf ...

(1940–2011), analog integrated circuit design expert and technical author * Charles Phelps (1852–1940), lawyer, state legislator, and Connecticut's first attorney general *

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

(1940–2006), internationally known singer/songwriter, member of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, born in Hartford, raised in Rockville *

Charles Ethan Porter Charles Ethan Porter (1847 – March 6, 1923) was an American painter who specialized in still life painting. A student at the National Academy of Design in New York City, he was one of the first African Americans to exhibit there. He was the onl ...

(1847–1923), artist * Bill Romanowski (1966–present), NFL linebacker, born in Vernon, graduated from Rockville High School in 1984 *

Antoni Sadlak Antoni Nicholas Sadlak (June 13, 1908 – October 18, 1969) was a U.S. Representative from Connecticut. Biography Born in Rockville, Connecticut, to a Polish immigrant family, Sadlak attended the parochial school. He graduated from George Syke ...

(1908–1969), U.S. Congressman

References

External links

Official Web Page for the town of Vernon

Community Web Page

Another Community Web Page

Vernon Historical Society

– Walking tours through historic Rockville
Map of Rockville CDP and Rockville Historic District
{{authority control Vernon, Connecticut Census-designated places in Tolland County, Connecticut Former municipalities in Connecticut Villages in Connecticut Historic districts in Tolland County, Connecticut Villages in Tolland County, Connecticut Census-designated places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Tolland County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Populated places disestablished in 1965