Editing Rockville, Minnesota (section)

==History==
According to the local [[oral tradition]], a village of the [[Dakota people]] was once located to the north of the lake.<ref>Pierre T. Hanson taped [[oral history]] interviews, Stearns County History Museum, [[St. Cloud, Minnesota]].</ref>

The parish cemetery in nearby [[Jacobs Prairie, Minnesota]] includes the grave of early Rockville pioneer Michael Hanson, Sr. Hanson was already an elderly immigrant when he arrived as a [[homesteading|homesteader]] with his sons and many of his grandchildren from the [[Luxembourgish]]-speaking but [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]]-ruled village of [[Obersgegen]]. Hanson was old enough, in fact, to have been a combat veteran of the [[French Imperial Army (1804–1815)|French Imperial Army]] who had lost a leg to enemy fire during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. As stipulated in his last request, Hanson lies buried in St. James Cemetery next to his close friend, pioneer settler, and fellow Napoleonic Wars veteran, Herr Pieck.<ref>Michael Hanson, Sr. biographical file & Pierre T. Hanson oral history interviews, Stearns County History Museum, [[St. Cloud, Minnesota]].</ref>

Rockville was [[plat]]ted in 1856, and named for [[granite]] rock formations on nearby streams.<ref>{{cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n543 526]}}</ref> A post office has been in operation at Rockville since 1857. Levi Gaylord was selected as the first Postmaster. The Government selected Newton Smith on June 6, 1861.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=MN&county=Stearns | title=Stearns County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=8 August 2015}}</ref>  In Rockville the [[Clark and McCormack Quarry and House]], consisting of a quarry established in 1907 and a house built in 1924, is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Minnesota National Register Properties Database |url=http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/nrhp/ |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=2009 |access-date=2018-06-12}}</ref>

On June 1, 2002, the city of [[Pleasant Lake, Minnesota|Pleasant Lake]] and [[Rockville Township, Stearns County, Minnesota|Rockville Township]] were merged into the city of Rockville.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/popest/geographic/boundary_changes/geo3.php Population Estimates Geographic Change Notes: Minnesota] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502172634/http://www.census.gov/popest/geographic/boundary_changes/geo3.php |date=2008-05-02 }}, 2006-05-19.  Accessed 2008-05-28.</ref>