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Homesteading in Norton County
Rockwell City
This town site was laid out and platted by Dr. William Rockwell in 1884. It was located in what was known as the Dunkard Colony. (Click here for more on the Dunkard Colony.) Dr. Rockwell built a general merchandise store hoping that it would draw settlers to the town site. However, Dr. Rockwell died in September 1884, and in the spring of 1885, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad built its tracks to the south. Mrs. Rockwell moved the store established by her husband from Rockwell to Norcatur (just inside the Decatur county line) after seeing that the town was not going to become the town that her husband had envisioned. Rockwell City was soon abandoned.
Sources
Bowers, D. N. Seventy Years in Norton County, Kansas, 1872-1942. The Norton County Champion,
Norton, Kansas, 1942.
Nicholson, John H. A History of Norton County, Kansas. Masters Thesis,
Colorado State College of Education, 1941.