Rock Valley is historically Holyoke's second oldest village after Elmwood, with its eponymous burial ground dating to around 1777, and families having settled in the area as early as 1745.

[6] Today, the neighborhood contains several historic Federal and Colonial homesteads, in addition to many modern developments adjacent to agricultural and wetland tracts.

[1][6][7][8] Even into the 20th century, the area retained an agrarian character, but was met with concern by residents who believed their neighborhood to be falling behind the progress made by the rest of the city during its sudden industrial growth.

Renamed the Rock Valley Improvement League in 1955,[4] among the issues they lobbied for was the electrification of streets lights in the area, construction of a community center, and development of new playgrounds for children.

[9][10] The association would hold many neighborhood dinners and events for a number of years as well, and having achieved many of the aforementioned goals fell into relative obscurity.