Roamin’ Around Rockville.
The recent publication by the Toowoomba and Darling Downs Family History Society, “Roamin’ Around Rockville”, explores the development of the Rockville suburb on the northern border of Toowoomba.
Rockville was first developed in 1901 as a residential area for the employees at the Willowburn Asylum, Willowburn Railways Workshops, and the Darling Downs Co-operative Bacon Factory, as well as other industries in the area.
This seventy-six page, fully indexed, book with photos, illustrations and maps looks at seventy local families, with chapters on the industries, businesses, hospitals, and schools within the Rockville area. It records the memories of the older residents who were interviewed for the project; further details of births, deaths, marriages, and occupations are also included for these families.
There is a chapter on the naming of the streets, and another on the aspects of the modern changing suburb.
Rockville was a close knit community, it was self sufficient, and it had its fair share of larrikins and hard working residents, traits that are still evident today.
The book is available from the Society for $20 AUD plus $3 postage in Australia.