[12] The café opened in August 1939, initially operating under manager Miss Thelma Holloway,[13] and was a busy local Greyhound bus stop during World War II.

In 1999, an F3 tornado heavily damaged Stroud, destroying the town's 53-store Tanger Outlet mall and wiping out a handful of key local employers including a Sygma food service distribution facility.

When the first Pixar crews researching Route 66 stopped at the Rock Café in 2001, restoration and repair of the 1999 tornado damage was not yet complete; the neon flickered briefly but failed to come to life.

[17] In 2007, travelling artist Bob Waldmire depicted the café in one of his works;[18] Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives also devoted part of an episode to the Rock.

While the destroyed outlet shopping mall was not rebuilt, the community successfully marketed its industrial park, and is now a leading small city in oilfield manufacturing and transportation, particularly in the rail and pipeline sectors.