RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> Whiteside County >> Rock FallsIndex...

Welcome to Rock Falls ...

The city of Rock Falls is located in Whiteside County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Rock Falls, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1868.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Rock Falls has a population of 8,746 people<2> (see below for details).

Rock Falls is 640 feet [195 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Rock Falls lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Rock Falls: 815 & 779<4>

The ZIP code for Rock Falls: 61071<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Rock Falls had an population of 8,746 people. This is a decrease of 5.61% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 8.71% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Rock Falls had a population of 9,266 people (or 15.84% of the total population of Whiteside County). This makes Rock Falls the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Rock Falls represents 0.07% of the population of Illinois (which has 12,830,632 people), making it the state's 231st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 9,266 people, the population of Rock Falls decreased 3.28% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 9,580 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Rock Falls.

Communities Also Named Rock Falls ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Rock Falls - they are located in Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rock Falls.

Communities near Rock Falls ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Rock Falls.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Rock Falls. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rock Falls.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Rock Falls. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rock Falls.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Rock Falls. Our list includes 7 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Rock Falls.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rock Falls ...

Looking for more information about Rock Falls? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Rock Falls, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Rock Falls.

Adding Rock Falls to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Rock Falls in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Rock Falls was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>

From that list, the Rock Falls post office opened in 1868.

We also found Rock Falls on a map (with an unknown title) dated 1870.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Rock Falls.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Whiteside, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Rock Falls.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Rock Falls - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Rock Falls area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Rock Falls area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Rock Falls). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Rock Falls or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<8>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<9>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/