Rockville, Connecticut

Rockville is a census-designated place and part of the town of Vernon, Connecticut located in Tolland County, Connecticut. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 7,708.

History

Before the mills

In 1726, Samuel Grant traded his farm in Bolton for 500 acres (2 km²) 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. [[Shenipsit Lake|The Snip feeds the Hockanum River which cascade|cascades 254 feet over 1.5 mile|miles. The river was used by the farmers for a grist mill, a sawmill|saw mill, an oil mill and even a distillery starting around 1740.

Related Topics:
Farm - Bolton - Acres - Century - Village - Shenipsit Lake

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The Rock Mill

In 1821, Colonel Francis McLean built the first textile 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 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 satinets. In 1826 power looms were introduced.

Related Topics:
Textile - Dam - Stone - River - Factory - Satinets - Power looms

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The mill attracted people to this area and by 1836 the population grew to 440 consisting of

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61 families including 89 children under the age of 10.

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Rockville gets its name

Mail service was brought once a day by stagecoach from Vernon Center, which was the post office 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 post office the town needed a permanent name.

Related Topics:
Stagecoach - Post office

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• The following were some of the recommendations for naming the town.
• Frankfort - in honour of Francis Mclean builder of the "Rock Mill"
• Vernon Falls
• Grantville - in honour 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,

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Rockvillle became the official name. It was not until 1842, however, that Rockville actually acquired its own post office.

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