Welcome to Rocky Mount ...
The town of Rocky Mount is located in Franklin County<1> and is the County Seat for Franklin County.
Rocky Mount was established in 1760.
When the people of Rocky Mount refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Rocky Mounter<2>
A typical abbreviation for Rocky Mount: Rocky Mt. (or less commonly used: Rocky Mnt.)
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Rocky Mount has a population of 4,722 people<3> (see below for details).
The community of Rocky Mount is 1,140 feet [347 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Rocky Mount lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Rocky Mount: 540 & 826<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Rocky Mount had an population of 4,722 people. This is a decrease of 1.6% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 16.13% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Rocky Mount had a population of 4,799 people (which is 8.54% of the total population of Franklin County). This makes Rocky Mount the county's most populous community.
The population of Rocky Mount represents 0.06% of the total population of Virginia (which has 8,001,024 people), making it the state's 66th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 4,799 people, the population of Rocky Mount increased 18.03% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 4,066 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Rocky Mount.
Communities Also Named Rocky Mount ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 9 communities that are also named Rocky Mount - they are located in Alabama (2), Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri (2), North Carolina and South Carolina.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rocky Mount.
Websites for Rocky Mount ...
Official Website: www.rockymountva.org/
Communities near Rocky Mount ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Rocky Mount.
- Roanoke
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roanoke
- Roanoke is located in Roanoke City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 99,058 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roanoke <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Roanoke
- From Rocky Mount to Roanoke
- Radford
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast) - Vinton
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Vinton is located in Roanoke County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,128 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Vinton
- From Rocky Mount to Vinton
- Boones Mill
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boones Mill
- Boones Mill is located in Franklin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 233 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boones Mill <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Boones Mill
- From Rocky Mount to Boones Mill
- Redwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redwood
- Redwood is located in Franklin County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Redwood
- From Rocky Mount to Redwood
- Hickman
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hickman. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickman
- Hickman is located in Franklin County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hickman
- From Rocky Mount to Hickman
- Villa ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Sydnorsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydnorsville
- Sydnorsville is located in Franklin County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Sydnorsville
- From Rocky Mount to Sydnorsville
- Burnt Chimney
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Chimney
- Burnt Chimney is located in Franklin County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Burnt Chimney
- From Rocky Mount to Burnt Chimney
- Felicia ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
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 Rocky Mount. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rocky Mount.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Rocky Mount. 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 Rocky Mount.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Rocky Mount. Our list includes 12 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Rocky Mount.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rocky Mount ...
Looking for more information about Rocky Mount? 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 Rocky Mount, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Rocky Mount.
Adding Rocky Mount to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Rocky Mount 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 Rocky Mount was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
X2X - From that list, the Rocky Mount post office opened in 1795.
We also found Rocky Mount in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Rocky Mount.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Rocky Mount: www.rockymountva.org/
The official website for Franklin County: www.franklincountyva.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Franklin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Rocky Mount refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a town's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Rocky Mount may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Rocky Mount. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Rocky Mount - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | 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 540 code has been Overlayed with the 826 area code. New phone numbers in the Rocky Mount area will be assigned with one of these codes: 540 or 826. As a result, placing a call in the Rocky Mount area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <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/ |