Rockland Village

Rockland Village

The quaint and sleepy Victorian village of Rockland, once a mining boom town, sits in the beautiful valley of the lower Ontonagon River.

Rockland was first settled in the 1840s as an outgrowth of the old Minesota* and National Mines when deposits of pure copper were discovered and substantial mines were dug there. The Minesota Mine just southeast Rockland, begun in 1847, was one of the first U.P. copper mines to strike it rich. It extracted over four million pounds of copper a year and produced some of the largest masses of native copper ever found.

The village, however, wasn't formally laid out until 1862.

The village of Rockland was incorporated under State law in 1864, and included the platted territory of Williamsburg, Webster and Rosendale, which never sustained independent organizations -

-- Williamsburg, on Section 9, Town 50, Range 39, laid out, platted and recorded by William Shepard and William Davis, May 10, 1858

-- Webster, on Section 16, Town 50, Range 39, was laid out, platted and recorded by James M. Cooper, September 3, 1858

-- Rosendale, on Section 9, Town 50, Range 39, was laid out, platted and recorded by the Minesota Mining Company, October 27, 1858

Rockland Village

Entering Rockland, Methodist Church left

Downtown Rockland

The first election was held in 1864, and Thomas Emmons was elected President; Robert Allen, Recorder and Treasurer, with six Trustees. The village organization was abandoned at the end of the year as a too expensive luxury, and resolved itself back again under the township organization.

The first store was built in 1857 on the site where M. L. Stannard is now located by Mr. Webster for B. T. Rogers, the present Sheriff of the county, who occupied it as a general store for several years. The Minesota Mining Company also had a large general store outside of the village, besides a school and church built by them in an early day.

The first post office was established here in 1857, called the Minesota Mine, with William Peck as Postmaster. The first mail received was distributed at the mine. The first quarterly receipts were $31.31. The quarter's receipts ending March 31. 1861, were $335.61. This year the office was moved to near its present quarters in Rockland, and changed to the National Post Office, with T. B. Rogers as Postmaster. About 1862, it was changed to Rockland. Since 1872, R. D. Menhenet has been Postmaster, and keeps a model office. The eastern mail reaches here daily by stage from Houghton.

The first school established in the village was upon the Minesota Mine plat. In 1880 the township had a school population of 392. The place now supports (in 1883) an excellent graded school, which occupies an ample and well constructed building.

The Odd Fellows have a lodge here, which was organized in Ontonagon July 24, 1854, with H. R. Close, R. B. Hall, E. C. Rhaum, A. Doolittle and Thomas Nash as charter members. The first officers were: A. Doolittle, N. G.; H. R. Close, V. G.; R. B. Hall, Secretary; E. C. Rhaum, Treasurer; Thomas Nash, O. G. T. he lodge was moved to Rockland March 15, 1862. They own the frame building which they occupy, by purchase in 1865 for $900. The order is healthy and in good financial condition, having a balance in treasury of $500 besides assets, cash in bank and invested 1,600. The present membership is fifty-five. The present officers are: Thomas H. Emmons, N. G.; Thomas King, V. G.; N. Fargo, Secretary; T. D. James, Treasurer; John Williams, Permanent Secretary; M. Ruhl, Warden; E. Simmons, I. G.; Rush Rule, Conductor.

The Masonic order have a lodge here, No. 108, organized January 14, 1859. The charter members were William Peck, first Grand Master; James B. Townsend, Senior Warden; Daniel P. Wait, Junior Warden; Dr. Osborn, L. Stannard, who was Master ten years. The present Master is Dr. F. J. Downer; Senior Warden, B. F. Chynoweth; Junior Warden, Capt. E. Bawdsen; Senior Deacon, Richard Rule; Junior Deacon, Henry Hillegass; Treasurer, S. Martin; Tiler, T. T. Dunn. The present membership is twenty-five. The order has occupied the Odd Fellows' building as their headquarters for the past ten years.

On July 4, 1892 a fire destroyed most of the town. A little girl whose parents told her not to use firecrackers managed to find one and lit it in her dining room. In a panic, she threw it out the window, igniting the lace curtains and, soon, quite a bit of Rockland as well. The fire spread unchecked because the townspeople were a mile and a half west of town dedicating the new cemetery. It took the girl a long time to get there and convince them to return and deal with the fire. When Rockland rebuilt, it installed a state-of-the-art water system.

In the flourishing days of the Minesota Mine, about 1858, there were some six thousand people in and around Rockland. At the time, it was the ultimate in frontier modernization and could even boast of having Michigan's first telephone system. It didn't last long, though. Early in the 20th century, the mines closed down one by one. And with them, Rockland's population steadily declined. By the early 1890s Rockland had almost a thousand inhabitants, then dropped to 700 in the 1930s, and is under 200 today. Ontonagon County's much purer mass copper proved insignificant compared to central Keweenaw's copper deposits.

*Not a typo; it's spelled with just one "n" - the result of a clerical error.

Source (in part): Western Historical Company. History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Chicago: The Western Historical Company, 1883.