This eastern Rowan County town of nearly 1,000 people was known as Rockwell in the 1800s and an attempt was made then to discover how it was named and if it was ever called anything else.

Mrs. Mabel Peeler Kluttz, who could be called the First Lady of Rockwell because she says she has lived here longer than anyone else, remembers her grandmother talking of this early history.

Her grandmother, Mrs. Mary Peeler, Mrs. Eli Holshouser, and another resident name unknown but from the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church community, visited the elderly of the area to learn the history.

They were acting upon a request of the officials of the Yadkin Railroad, which was being built through Rockwell at that time. The officials wanted to change the name of the town because it sounded too much like the name of a town in Virginia, Mrs. Kluttz say, but as it turns out, the folks in the community would has none of that.

They told Mrs. Peeler the town had always been Rockwell and Rockwell it would remain.

The primary historical attractions in the Rockwell area are Grace(Lower Stone) United Church of Christ and Organ Lutheran Church located just a few miles from town. Both of these churches date to the 1700's and have graveyards adjoining the churches which have proved to be a treasure-trove of genealogical information. Five miles to the northwest is the Old Stone House built of native hand hewn granite by Michael Braun (Brown) from 1758 to 1766. It is known as the oldest German house in North Carolina. It has been a popular tourist attraction since being restored by the Rowan Museum, Inc. This house and the two churches are on the Rowan tours.