Editing Rockford, Tennessee (section)

==History==
Rockford is named for a [[ford (crossing)|river ford]] used by early 19th-century settlers and merchants travelling between Knoxville and [[Maryville, Tennessee|Maryville]].<ref name=matheny>Jim Matheny, "[http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=188390 Why Do They Call It That? - Rockford in Blount County]," ''WBIR.com'', October 24, 2011. Retrieved: November 15, 2011.</ref> As its name implies, the ford was unusually rocky, and thus preferred by travellers, as large amounts of silt and sand made much of the [[Little River (Tennessee)|Little River]] difficult to cross. The community was called "Rocky Ford" by the early 1800s.<ref name=matheny />

[[File:Rockford Manufacturing Company - NARA - 281429.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Rockford Manufacturing Company in 1942]]

Since the 1900s, the community has been the site of the Rockford Manufacturing Company, a yard cordage factory, and its adjacent and hazardous [[low head dam]], formerly used to power the factory and now poses nothing more than a dangerous feature on the [[Little River (Tennessee)|Little River]], having been the site of numerous fatalities.<ref name="tschantz">{{cite web |last1=Tschantz |first1=Bruce |title=What We Know (and Don’t Know) About Low-head Dams |url=https://damfailures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/dam_jourl_v12_issue_4_2014_final-what_we_know_frm_asdso.pdf |website=Lessons Learned |publisher=Association of State Dam Safety Officials |accessdate=November 13, 2020}}</ref>

Rockford incorporated as a city in the early 1970s to avoid being annexed by [[Alcoa, Tennessee|Alcoa]] or Maryville, both of which were growing rapidly.<ref name=matheny />