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History of Rockville, Owyhee County, Idaho

This history is quoted from Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, "The Rocks" by Meril Ebbers, A Historical, Descriptive and Commercial Directory of Owyhee County, Idaho and Idaho Ghost Towns.

Rockville

The original name of Rockville was The Rocks. It was also a precinct for voting and census purposes for a short time in the 1920s, but was annexed to Homedale precinct in 1928.

Originally established in the 1870s as a stage station, it was granted a post office in 1885. At its height, it had a frame house, a saloon, and other buildings, including a 19-room hotel which was built in 1903. That building included sleeping rooms and a dance hall and became a center for local activity. Rockville was abandoned in 1928 when the new road through Succor Creek Canyon to Jordan Valley bypassed it. The hotel was torn down in 1930 and some of the buildings later were burned by vandals.

City Directory, 1898

Directory of residents and businesses, 1898

Residents

Adam Blackstock, wool grower
Herbert Blackstock, wool grower
Joseph Blackstock, wool grower

J.C. Brewster, rancher
John Bruce, wool grower
William Christensen, station keeper
John Drennan, wool growerAlbert Geise, sheep herder
J.F. Gillenwater, wool grower
Cal. Graff, wool grower
William Graff, wool grower
William Hammond, sheep herder
James Keith, wool grower
John Keith, wool grower
A.J. Marsh, sheep herder
Joseph Monahan, cattleman
Robert Moss, hostler
Marion Philpot, buckaroo
Mrs. A.J. Sands, ranch
George Sinclair, sheep herder
W.H. Upham, Postmaster and hotel
William Wilson, sheep herder

Cemetery

There is a small cemetery at the site of Rockville with at least one stone – that of Mrs Ed Holmes who was killed by Indians in 1889.

Cited Works:

Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940. Population. Volume 1: Number of Inhabitants. See footnotes for Owyhee County.

Meril Ebbers. "The Rocks," The Bulletin, newsletter of the Owyhee County Historical Society, July 5, 2010

A Historical, Descriptive and Commercial Directory of Owyhee County, Idaho, January 1898. Silver City, Idaho: Press of the Owyhee Avalanche, 1898.

“Rockville Stage Stop.” Idaho Ghost Towns, online at http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/id/rockvillestagestop.html (Sep. 2010)