Big Rock is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

and

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...

counties,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, United States. The community is named for a large boulder.

Geography

Big Rock is located at the intersection of County Road Y42E and 317th Street, in the northwest corner of Scott County, northwest of Dixon and south of Wheatland.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 49 people, 23 households, and 7 families residing in the community. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 148.7 inhabitants per square mile (57.4/km²). There were 26 housing units at an average density of 78.9 per square mile (30.5/km²). The

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

makeup of the community was 81.6%

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

, 2.0% Black or African American, 2.0% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.0% from other races and 12.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

persons of any race comprised 4.1% of the population. Of the 23 households, 8.7% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 17.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 4.3% were cohabitating couples, 47.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 30.4% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 69.6% of all households were non-families. 65.2% of all households were made up of individuals, 21.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The median age in the community was 57.8 years. 8.2% of the residents were under the age of 20; 6.1% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 14.3% were from 25 and 44; 49.0% were from 45 and 64; and 22.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the community was 55.1% male and 44.9% female.

History

Big Rock was founded by Peter Goddard in 1855, named after a large rock in the area.Savage, Tom (2007). ''A Dictionary of Iowa Place-Names'', p. 39. University Of Iowa Press. . For 113 years, one of the town's main businesses was Horstmann's General Store, a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

where area residents could purchase groceries, supplies and miscellaneous items. The store closed in 2010 after the owner died. The town at one time also had a railroad station, a lumber yard, a dance hall, and a tavern, all of which also have since closed. It is home to a local cemetery, with dates of death going back to the mid-1880s and earlier. The city used to be a shipping port for timber and wood, as well as distributed ice throughout the area via a small waterfall that was accessed in a wooded area away from the main highway that now runs through the middle of the town. This ice was brought across from the wooded area and then slid down a large hill to deliver to the town and the rail yard for distribution. The population was 97 in 1940. Big Rock was also home to two churches, one of which was torn down in the early 2000s. The town still from time to time will get together for "Big Rock days", a celebration of the local community in front of the large rock in which the town is named after.

Education

It is in the Calamus-Wheatland Community School District.

Notable People

Martin Burns Martin Burns (February 15, 1861 – January 8, 1937), nicknamed Farmer Burns, was an American Catch wrestling, catch wrestler, wrestling coach, and teacher. Born in Cedar County, Iowa, he started wrestling as a teenager and made money travelin ...

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Scott County, Iowa Unincorporated communities in Clinton County, Iowa Unincorporated communities in Iowa 1855 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1855