Rockdale, Iowa

rdf:langString Rockdale, Iowa

rdf:langString Rockdale, Iowa was a small unincorporated village formerly located just south of Dubuque, Iowa between Dubuque and Key West, Iowa. The village was situated on the Catfish Creek in Dubuque County, Iowa, and was the site of one of the first mills in the state of Iowa. In 1834 or 1835 David Hutton and his son built a mill built of logs. Initially the mill was known as "The Catfish Mills." In 1839 the mill was sold. James Pratt and Walter Manson purchased the mill in 1840, and they renamed the mill "Rockford Mill." They replaced the original log building with a frame building four stories high. This mill could produce 90,000 bushels of wheat annually, and the flour produced was equal in quality to the flour produced in St. Louis, Missouri. As a result, the mill enjoyed a monopoly in the upper Midwest until the establishment of other mills. Pratt and Manson would operate this mill for the next 25 years. During this time Rockdale was a crossroads for farmers in the area. Operations at the Rockdale Mill were temporarily halted due to the Rockdale Flood. The mill would eventually start producing flour once again. In 1878 the mill burned to the ground. Thomas Watters Jr. rebuilt the mill as a stone structure. He changed the name to the South Dubuque Mill. J.F. Gondolfo would purchase the mill in 1885. He made repairs, and the mill continued to produce flour for a number of years. In 1901 the mill would be leased out to a company that ran the mill for the next 14 years. In 1915 the mill was finally shut down. For a time it was used as a dairy barn until it was destroyed by fire in 1927. The village would eventually grow to include a saloon, hotel, stores, blacksmith shop, several homes, and a post office. The villagers built a Methodist church built out of logs in the 1830s. In 1874 the present structure was built at 1500 Old Mill Road with red brick. The Rockdale Methodist Church still stands and, along with its Cemetery at the side and back, is still in use today. Rockdale's population was 132 in 1902, and was 85 in 1925.