Roca

History

The population of Roca in 1890 was 190, the highest it has been before the present day. The post office was established September 22, 1894. When the town was platted in 1876, the citizens wished to choose a name, which would suggest the chief industry in the area, stone quarrying. Roca is the Spanish word for stone. In 1857 John and Margaret Prey, adult sons, John W., Thomas, and William, and teenage children, David and Rebecca, came from Wisconsin to preempt land near the proposed town called "Olathe." There were high hopes for the future of the area, which was designated as "Clay County." However, not many people ventured this far onto the prairie. While there were no major confrontations with Indians, there were several scares, which caused some settlers to leave and not return. Indians took Rebecca Prey, but they released her when her father and brothers appeared. In 1861 Delos and Frances Mills settled one-half mile west of Salt Creek. They built a small stone house, using limestone from a ledge that protruded from the ground. This was the beginning of the quarries that became a primary business. The following year Mills' mother, Orra Boydston, and her sister, Esther Warner, arrived. Both widows, they filed on adjoining homesteads near Mills' cabin. There was a "political altercation" in 1863, at which time Clay County was dissolved and the land divided between Gage and Lancaster counties. The Prey family and John Haskins were the only original settlers who remained at this location. In 1864 Elmore Keys arrived and bought Prey's cabin for $20. He moved it, log by log, to a site on the east side of the creek and later added a small stone lean-to. In 1867 a committee was commissioned to find a location for the state's capital city. A site near the rock quarries…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  10,711
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,367
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,240
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,340
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,890
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,873
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,202
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,942

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2014-01-06
  5 km NW of Liberty, Nebraska
• M 3.3 — 2010-11-18
  4 km E of Octavia, Nebraska
• M 3.6 — 2009-12-17
  2 km NW of Auburn, Nebraska
• M 3.5 — 2004-07-16
  6 km SSE of Riverton, Iowa