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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Rockville (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Rockville. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Rockville is located in Stearns County.

To see how the shape of Minnesota's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Stearns County: Benton, Douglas, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Morrison, Pope, Sherburne, Todd & Wright.

Below are the counties that are near Rockville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rockville:

  • Stearns County     (The home county of Rockville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.
    • Pleasant Lake
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Lake is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Lake
    • Saint Augusta
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Saint Augusta is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augusta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,900 people
    • Cold Spring
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Saint Joseph
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Waite Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Collegeville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Kimball
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Richmond
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Saint Cloud
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Kimball Prairie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Kimball Prairie is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimball Prairie
    • Fairhaven
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Fairhaven is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
    • Evergreen Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Evergreen Village is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
    • Avon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Avon is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.
    • Evergreen Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Evergreen Village is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Village
    • Sauk Rapids
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Watab
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Watab is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watab
    • Rice
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Rice is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,401 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <1>
    • Duelm
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Duelm is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duelm
    • Foley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Gilman
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ronneby
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ronneby is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ronneby
    • Oak Park
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Oak Park is located in Benton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Park
  • Kandiyohi County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.
    • Hawick
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Hawick is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawick
    • Regal
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Regal is located in Kandiyohi County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regal
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 35 people
  • Meeker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.
    • Watkins
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Eden Valley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Forest City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Forest City is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest City
    • Kingston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Kingston is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 162 people
    • Manannah
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Manannah is located in Meeker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manannah
    • Litchfield
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Darwin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Dassel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Grove City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Morrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.
    • North Prairie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • North Prairie is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Prairie
    • Bowlus
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Royalton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Upsala
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elmdale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Elmdale is located in Morrison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmdale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
  • Sherburne County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.
    • Cable
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Cable is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
    • Clear Lake
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Becker
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Becker is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Becker
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,033 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Becker <1>
    • Santiago
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Santiago is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santiago
    • Salida
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Salida is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salida
    • Orrock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Orrock is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrock
    • Big Lake
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.
    • South Haven
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Clearwater
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Annandale
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hasty
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Hasty is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hasty
    • Silver Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Silver Creek is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek
    • Maple Lake
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Albion Center
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Albion Center is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion Center
    • Albright
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Albright is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albright
    • Rassat
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rassat is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rassat
    • Cokato
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Smith Lake
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Smith Lake is located in Wright County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smith Lake
    • Monticello
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Buffalo
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Rockville, see our County-by-County Page for Rockville.

Cemeteries Near Rockville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rockville.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Rockville - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Rockville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.

  • Calvary Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • St. Wendelin Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Jacobs Prairie Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Staples Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • St. James Catholic Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Old St. Nicholas Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Maine Prairie Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Boniface Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Gethsemane Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Stranger Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • St. Nicholas Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Joseph Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (197 more) ...
    • Monastic Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • St. Joseph Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • St. Johns Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Rockville had a population of 40 people in 1895 with railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Rockville had a population of 2,599 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Rockville, with the one closest to Rockville listed first.

  • Luxemburg
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Luxemburg is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luxemburg
  • Saint Augusta
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Saint Augusta is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Augusta
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,900 people
  • Cold Spring
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Saint Nicholas
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Saint Nicholas is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Nicholas
  • Saint Joseph
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Collegeville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Richmond
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Watkins
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Kimball Prairie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Kimball Prairie is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kimball Prairie
  • Fairhaven
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fairhaven is located in Stearns County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairhaven
  • Saint Cloud
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • South Haven
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Cable
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Cable is located in Sherburne County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cable
    • Avon
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Avon is located in Stearns County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avon
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,652 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Avon <1>
    • Sauk Rapids
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Rockville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rockville.

Newspapers Published in Rockville ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 129 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rockville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rockville, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rockville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Rockville:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Rockville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rockville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.