Roca is a village in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.14 square miles (0.36 km2), all land.

When the town was platted in 1876, the citizens wished to choose a name, which would suggest the chief industry in the area, stone quarrying.

[7] In 1857 John and Margaret Prey, adult sons, John W., Thomas, and William, and teenage children, David and Rebecca, came from Wisconsin to preempt land near the proposed town called "Olathe."

While there were no major confrontations with Indians, there were several scares, which caused some settlers to leave and not return.

In 1861 Delos and Frances Mills settled one-half mile west of Salt Creek.

They built a small stone house, using limestone from a ledge that protruded from the ground.

The following year Mills' mother, Orra Boydston, and her sister, Esther Warner arrived.

The Prey family and John Haskins were the only original settlers who remained at this location.

A site near the rock quarries on the Mills farm was suggested because of the availability of good building materials.

Haskel Warner, who had worked with a survey crew in the New Mexico Territory, suggested "Roca," which is Spanish for rock.

Elmore Keys and John Meyer donated the land, and a town site was platted.

The big stone house that Keys built on top of the hill east of the town at that time is still a fine home today.

By 1882 there were 280 students and businesses included a motel, a mill, a hardware store, a lumberyard, and a few other shops.

In 1933 a large brick schoolhouse was built, which served the community until 1964 when a Consolidation effort formed the Norris School District with a building south of Hickman.