Rock

Formed May 23, 1857 (52^nd county)

Rock County (9,701), Luverne (4,940)

The classic red stone Richardsonian Romanesque Revival building, built in 1888, is at Brown, McKenzie, Luverne, and Cedar streets.  United States Highway 75 passes three blocks to the west of the location.  T. D. Allen is the architect.  A tower is the building’s feature while veteran memorials and a canon are on the grounds.  Rock County was established on May 23, 1857 from Brown County as the 52^nd county with Luverne, the only county seat.  The county is named for a large rock formation on the Rock River.  The county seat is named for the daughter of a settler. 

Rock County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer, an auditor, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Nineteen District Court Judges serve Rock, Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, and Watonwan counties (judicial.) The county is in the southwest corner of the state.  South Dakota is its western border and Iowa is its southern border.  The county center is 8.2 miles West-Northwest of Luverne.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pipestone, Murray, and Nobles counties and Iowa and South Dakota. 

The area of the county is 482.6 square miles.  It is 70 out of 87 in the state.  It ranks 69 out of 87 in population in the state.  It has a density of 20.1 persons per square mile making it 55 out of 87 in the state.  Rock County has 68.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 crosses the county east to west from Nobles County to South Dakota.  United States Highway 75 goes north to south from Pipestone County to Iowa.  The county is a rectangle.  Luverne is located slightly east and south of the center of the county.  Luverne is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 50.9% of the county population.