Рок-Хилл, Миссури: История и современность города

Rock Hill is a suburban town in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,635 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Fairfax House on the National Register of Historic Places.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.09 square miles (3 km2), all land. Rock Hill is bounded by cities Ladue, Brentwood, Webster Groves, Glendale and Warson Woods. Voters passed a $3 million bond issue to repair roads in 2000. By 2005 the fund was nearly depleted with considerable work left to be done. Voters passed a proposition in 2011 to extend the street bond issue, allowing the city to raise an additional $3.5 million. In October 2019, the board of aldermen voted to lower the speed limit on most streets to 20 miles per hour.

James Collier Marshall settled what became Rock Hill around 1832. He and his brother John Marshall purchased 800 acres along Manchester Road where he and his brother built a log building that operated as a home and store. The post office was closed in 1863, only to reopen a year later until 1897, whereupon mail service was moved to Webster Groves. Rock Hill was a stop near present day Creve Coeur Drive on the Missouri Pacific spur from Creve Coeur, Missouri to downtown St. Louis. Trains ran twice daily. In 1954 Walter F. Hellmich purchased 15 acres to develop an "Industrial Court." In 1969 Rock Hill notified Missouri Pacific it would condemn its station. Rock Hill remained largely undeveloped until the 1920s when much of the area was parceled for the construction of houses. In April 1929 Rock Hill was incorporated as a village. The village switched to a mayor–aldermanic form of government in 1941. In April 1947 the Village of Rock Hill voted to incorporate as a fourth class city. On 10 February 1959 a powerful tornado struck Rock Hill north of Manchester, destroying Mackle Florist (1913–1965) and continued onward into St. Louis. The city flag was presented by the Citizens of Rock Hill Improvement Association in May 1965. In 2006 Rock Hill began transitioning from a residential city to a point of sale city with a retail development project on Manchester. With city financial reserves at critical levels, city administrator George Liyeos told the Post Dispatch "our entire future hinges on the success of that project." The 30th annual Rock Hill Fall Festival was held in 2013.

As of 2020, there were 4,750 people living in the city.

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,635 people, 2,064 households, and 1,198 families residing in the city. The population density was There were 2,217 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the city was 70.6% White, 23.0% African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.5% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.8% of the population. There were 2,064 households, of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.0% were non families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age in the city was 36.9 years. 20.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 32.9% were from 25 to 44; 26.8% were from 45 to 64; and 12.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.0% male and 51.0% female.

In business since 1890, Trainwreck Saloon on Manchester is the oldest continually operated bar in St. Louis County. Business first developed east of Deer Creek. Windom was the Rock Hill area serviced by railroad east of the river bounded by Brentwood Boulevard and Litzinger Road. Windom stop, later "Mentor", had a post office where mail was delivered weekly. West of Deer Creek a number of dairy and produce farms developed. In July 1997 Landside Resources Inc. began constructing McKnight Crossing, a $5.5 million 40,000 square foot mixed use space anchored by Hollywood Video. In April Landside had agreed to purchase the Fairfax House from the Rock Hill Improvement Association and pay for its restoration and relocation across the road to Rock Hill Presbyterian Church. In May 1999 the Board of Alderman selected Sansone Development over Landside Resources for redevelopment of McKnight and Manchester. In October Sansone withdrew from the project. Sansone told Rock Hill later that year it wanted to scale back the development area from 25 acres to 16, just the northwest corner. After the city reopening the bid process Rock Hill agreed in April 2000 to allow Sansone to develop 16 acres, financed by up to $7 million in tax increment financing. Sansone withdrew its proposal again in September 2000 citing city delays that meant surrounding development projects had progressed so much as to make the 16 acre proposal infeasible. The city re bid the projects and received 40 acre plans from Regency Realty and THF Realty and an additional 25 acre plan from Regency. In April 2001 both developers retracted their bids amid a firestorm of resident opposition against the proposals. In 2001 RSI Kitchen & Bath purchased the three acre former Stivers car dealership property on Manchester for construction of its main showroom. In December 2000 Quebecor World began talks with city officials to acquire the city hall for a potential expansion of the adjacent Sayers Printing Company. In January 2004 the Board of Aldermen selected Novus Companies to develop 36.9 acres at the southwest and northwest corners of Manchester and McKnight roads. In March 2005 the Board of Aldermen approved the $95 million mixed use development, called Market at McKnight. The buy out area targeted 126 properties on the north corner, and 48 properties, including 15 homes, on the south side. In May 2007 Rock Hill sought a second request for proposals when over half of north side property owners were unsatisfied with Novus' buy out offers and Novus sought an additional $7 million in tax increment financing (TIF). In December 2007 the Board of Alderman replaced Novus with Miller Weingarten and Hutkin Properties on the northwest redevelopment site and increased the TIF from $18 million to $26.7 million. The south Market at McKnight opened in November 2007. By January 2010 the development area was 60 percent leased. In April 2014 Novus announced its second anchor for the development, 27,000 square foot Lucky's Market. In June 2005 the Board of Aldermen approved Mills Properties' request to build an 84 unit apartment complex on 7.7 acres on McKnight Road. In 2006 Rock Hill joined the Webster Groves/Shrewsberry Area Chamber of Commerce. In December 2008 Target delayed its plans for a store on the northwest development by nine months, citing the global credit crisis. In March 2009 Target canceled its planned location. Miller Weingarten ended its involvement in May. The 27 acre north development area was reduced to 2.9 acres in October 2010. In 1986 The Book House was established on Manchester Road. In 2009 the three story Victorian house received a Historic Buildings designation from the Rock Hill Historic Preservation Commission. In May 2013 Book House owner Michelle Barron received an eviction notice from property owner Rex Stahl who wanted to redevelop the 1.5 acre property, site of two other businesses. In October the Board of Alderman approved EZ Storage's proposal to build a 107,772 square foot storage facility on the site. The Book House reopened in Maplewood in 2014.