Rolla

Sister cities

• Sondershausen

History

The first European-American settlers in Phelps County arrived in the early 19th century, working as farmers and iron workers along the local rivers, such as the Meramec, the Gasconade, and the Little Piney. In 1842, John Webber built the first house in what became the City of Rolla. Nine years later, railroad contractor Edmund Ward Bishop, considered to be the founder of Rolla, settled in the area. The state officially established Rolla as a town in 1858. Three stories account for how Rolla was named. One story, widely regarded as a folk legend, and acknowledged as such by the Phelps County Historical Society, arises from the competition between Rolla and neighboring Dillon, Missouri, to be designated the county seat. When Rolla was made the county seat in 1861, the residents of Dillon, having lost a round, were allowed to choose the name of the new city and named it Rolla, after a good-for-nothing hunting dog. Another story came from a citizens' meeting about naming the town. Webber was said to prefer the name Hardscrabble (which was used to describe the soils in the region) and Bishop pushed for the name Phelps Center. George Coppedge, representing new settlers from North Carolina, wanted to name the community after Raleigh. Bishop broke the three-way tie by agreeing with Coppedge as long as the name was spelled properly for the region, Rolla. But the one story that has some first hand evidence to back it up was that it was named after Rolla Rose of St. Louis. He and others traveled to the area in the 1840s on a hunting trip. He carved his name on a tree so that they would not get lost. His widow, Adeline Rose, related this story in the St. Louis Globe newspaper on July 19, 1903. With numerous settlers from the South, many residents of Rolla leaned toward the…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Running through the city is the divide line that separates the vast Missouri watershed (via the Little Piney and the Gasconade) from the substantially smaller Meremec watershed (via the Bourbeuse). Rolla has a humid subtropical climate. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfa".