In the teacup valley in which Rock Island is currently located, two men, Ingraham and McBride, opened a trading post in the early 1860s.

[3] The two pioneering men would later move their post to the mouth of the Wenatchee River, leaving little trace of their stay.

As the first permanent settler to the Rock Island area, James Keane arrived with a crew of men in 1887.

Keane planned to build a home and improve the land that he had acquired through the Homestead, Pre-emption, and Desert Acts.

Four years later, the Great Northern Railroad made its first survey of the area and began construction toward the valley from the east.

One half mile upriver from the well-known Rock Island Rapids, Mr. Keane platted a townsite he named Hammond.

[4] Hammond was located nearly 2.5 miles south of the present site of the City of Rock Island due to changes in planning by the Great Northern Railway.

The mammoth steel bridge that was built across the Columbia drew many laborers to the area, and the small town boomed.

Several stores popped up to meet the needs of the workers, and the Rock Island Sun newspaper began publication.

Despite these strategic advantages, the large city in the area would become Wenatchee, just seven miles upriver from the site of present-day Rock Island.

On November 3, 1930, with the construction of the dam in full swing, Rock Island was officially incorporated as a Washington town, with a population of 421 residents.

When two of the dam's generators began producing power in 1931, and the final spillway was closed in 1932, Rock Island again faced a bust and a loss of residents.