[4] Philip Wolfersberger built a house in what is now Rockwood in 1856, and he laid out the town in 1857 with Martin Meyers serving as the primary surveyor.

[4] A view of Mineral Point / Rockwood appeared in a collection of photographs from along the B&O's lines that was published in book form in 1872 and digitized by the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

[6] A collision between two trains on the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad, occurring about three miles east of Rockwood, claimed six lives in November 1894.

[9] The B&O Railroad was a major east-west transportation artery in the region, with many people using it to pass over the Appalachian Mountains.

[10] As the Rockwood community grew and prospered, the bustling town became the home of numerous Christian congregations.

[11] The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad passes through Rockwood as it bends northerly in a long bow about the roots of Mount Davis, and it is now owned and operated by CSX, with daily Amtrak express trains between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, MD passing through the town and the nearby Cumberland Narrows.

It is situated near and below the West slope-side summit-point of both the Nemacolin Trail and Braddock's Road, as well as the railway as each ascended past the crest up through the Cumberland Narrows pass from the forks of the Potomac at Harper's Ferry.

The town was thus an important stop over point in the post-American Revolution westward migration into the Ohio Country and via the river boats built in Brownsville.

Both the Somerset & Mineral Point Railroad and the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad were completed in 1871;[14] the final section of the line between Pittsburgh & Cumberland was completed on the afternoon of April 10, 1871,[15] with the final rail being laid near Forge Bridge, about 3 miles to the west of Mineral Point.

[28] It is situated near and below the west-side crest of the Eastern Continental Divide separating the Potomac-Mississippi riverine systems along the north bank of the Casselman River—whose head waters are to the south in nearby Western Maryland—and just west of its confluence with Coxes Creek.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2), all land.

The nearest limited-access highway is the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Somerset (Exit 110), 10 miles (16 km) to the north.

Since 1990 local officials have lobbied for Rockwood to be added as a stop, and in October 2009 Amtrak released a feasibility study which placed the cost of a new station at $2.2 million.

[33][34] Proponents of the stop suggest that it might even benefit local resorts Seven Springs and Hidden Valley by increasing tourism business throughout the area.