Rolla, Missouri

Rolla is the county seat and largest city of Phelps County, Missouri. It had a population of 19,559 at the 2010 census. Located about halfway between St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri, at the intersection of Interstate 44 and U.S. Route 63, Rolla is a natural crossroads for south-central Missouri and one of the most important economic hubs for the northern Ozarks region, benefiting as well from the presence of the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

History

Though the first settlements in what would become Phelps County were made as early as the 1810s, the future site of Rolla was not permanently inhabited until about 1844, when John Webber built a house there, soon followed by others. However, the city really owes its existence to the organization of the Pacific Railroad in 1849, commissioned by the state legislature to build several lines of track, one of which would extend southwest from St. Louis. Construction of this branch began in 1853; at the same time, railroad contractor Edmund Ward Bishop arrived in the future Rolla community and came to view it as a suitable point for the line's progress, as it was along the direct route from St. Louis to Springfield and provided access to the central Ozarks.

At the urging of locals, hoping to profit more directly from the railroad's presence, the legislature separated the region from neighboring counties and organized it as Phelps County in 1857. At the same time, a commission was put to work to select a new county seat near its approximate center. Bishop provided some fifty acres of land for the town, which was laid out in 1858; however, the community of Dillon, a few miles to the east, put forth its own claim to be the county seat, an issue that was not settled until 1861, in favor of the town on Bishop's donated land. There are multiple versions of how the town gained the name of "Rolla." One, more popular locally, is that the disgruntled citizens of Dillon, given the chance to name the community as compensation, named it for a disreputable hunting dog. Another (and generally considered more plausible) is that it was a misspelling of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, from which many of the early settlers had come.

Geography

Rolla is located in central Phelps County, at the intersection of Interstate 44 and U.S. Route 63 (though most of the city lies south of the interstate). It is about 90 miles southwest of St. Louis, and 95 miles northeast of Springfield, while U.S. 63 connects it with Jefferson City about 50 miles to the north and West Plains about 85 miles to the south. Rolla's official coordinates are 37°56’56”N 91°45’47”W.

The city has a total area of 11.85 square miles, including 11.83 of land and 0.02 of water. Most of it sits on an elevated plateau that divides the watersheds of the Gasconade River (a tributary of the Missouri River) to the west and northwest and the Meramec River (a direct tributary of the Mississippi River) to the east. It has an average elevation of 1,122 feet, the land generally sloping downward toward the south.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, Rolla had a total of 19,559 inhabitants, grouped into 7,574 households, with a population density of 1,653.3 people per square mile. This figure represented a significant increase from the 2000 census, when Rolla had a population of 16,367. 86.71% of the inhabitants were White, 4.11% were African-American, 0.43% were Native American, 5.70% were Asian, 0.09% were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.41% were from some other race, and 2.56% were from two or more races. Hispanics of any race were 2.62% of the population.

The median age in Rolla was 26.2 years, with 18.2% of inhabitants under the age of 18, 29.4% between 18 and 24 years old, 23.7% between 25 and 44, 17.1% between 45 and 64, and 11.6% 65 years old or older. The sex ratio was 55.0% male, 45.0% female.

According to the 2018 American Community Survey, Rolla had a median household income of $34,934, and a median family income of $53,316. The unemployment rate was 5.4%. The per capita income was $20,753. About 31.1% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 28.9% of people under the age of 18 and 12.7% of people 65 years old or older.

Government

Rolla is a third-class city with a mayor-council form of government. The city council consists of the mayor and two aldermen from each of the city's six wards, each elected for two-year terms (along with the city attorney and the municipal judge; it typically meets on the first and third Mondays of each month. The current mayor of Rolla is Lou Magdits.

In the April 2021 municipal elections, five city council members were voted out of office because they had supported a mask mandate in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Media

Rolla has one daily newspaper, The Rolla Daily News, some version of which dates back to the 1870s. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was one of its staff reporters for a time in the 1950s.

The city has no television network affiliates, though it is at the edge of the Jefferson City and St. Louis media markets. There is also a local public-access station, Channel 16. It has several radio stations, including:

• KMNR (89.7 FM), public radio operated by students at Missouri S&T
• KMOZ (106.3 FM/1590 AM), part of the Bott Radio Network playing Christian talk
• KMST (88.5 FM), part of the National Public Radio network
• KZNN (105.3 FM), playing country music