[5] English and Scots traders encountered the indigenous people in this area of the falls of the Tar River beginning in the mid-1700s.

[13] After English colonists and indigenous allies waged the Tuscarora War in the early 1700s; most survivors migrated to the North.

The main party of the Tuscarora settled by 1722 with other Iroquoian peoples of the Five Nations, south of the Great Lakes in what became central and western New York.

In 1840, a train of cars en route to Wilmington stopped in Rocky Mount to import some "Old Nash" for special toasts at opening festivities.

[7] The Raleigh-Tarboro stage route also passed just south of Rocky Mount (roughly where I-95 and U.S. 64 run today), and for a time was the logical debarking point for railroad travelers wishing to proceed east or west.

[7] During the Civil War, the surrounding region was raided in 1863 by Union troops under the command of Brigadier General Edward E. Potter.

Warehouses where tobacco was stored and marketed began hosting balls for the community in the 1880s; these became known as "june germans" for the time of year and style of dance.

June Germans eventually transformed into all-night dance parties and attracted musicians and socialites from miles around well into the 1900s.

[19] At the turn of the 20th century, Rocky Mount became the northern headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which located its major repair shops and yard facilities in the town.

A main railroad line, a well-established cotton mill, and productive farmland for brightleaf tobacco were major contributors to the area's growth and prosperity over the next decades.

[21] As in the rest of the South, North Carolina had imposed legal racial segregation, including restrictions and discrimination in housing.

Black neighborhoods, such as Crosstown and Around the "Y", where jazz musician Thelonious Monk was born,[22] were concentrated on the east side of town.

In 1946, African-American tobacco warehouse workers voted to organize in Rocky Mount as part of a broader nationwide movement known as Operation Dixie.

In the 1950s and 1960s the city's economy diversified to include banking, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and the headquarters of a fast food chain known as Hardee's.

Rocky Mount's downtown deteriorated as new neighborhoods and shopping malls were built, such as Golden East Crossing.

It has supported projects to renovate buildings such as the train station and Douglas Block, or repurpose them, such as the Imperial Centre for Arts and Sciences.

[29] In 2019, CSX, the successor company of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, broke ground on a new intermodal cargo terminal that is expected to stimulate the local economy in the next decade.

[35] Rocky Mount is located in northeastern North Carolina, at the fall line between the Atlantic Coastal Plain to the east and the Piedmont region to the west.

As the city is located near the juncture of a number of highways and railway, distribution and logistics are important to local businesses.

This has helped attract new companies to Rocky Mount seeking skilled labor and a lower costs of living and doing business.

Since 2014 it has been in redevelopment by Capitol Broadcasting Company, which also owns the popular American Tobacco campus in downtown Durham, North Carolina.

[60][61] The next phase of development is Goat Island on the Tar River, which will offer public access to hiking trails, sandy beaches, and rafting/canoeing.

[67] The Rocky Mount Event Center administered by the city has added eight indoor basketball courts, sixteen volleyball courts, a ropes course, a climbing wall, and a family entertainment center, with plans to host indoor basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics competitions.

The council appoints a city manager to serve as chief administrative officer of day-to-day affairs of government.

The center's programs are free, open to the public, and focus on business development, entrepreneurship, and community engagement.

[74] The city is also served by Nash Community College, which has a brewing, distillation, and fermentation program in partnership with the Mills.

[75] Edgecombe Community College has a downtown campus specializing in biotechnology and medical simulation, one of only two such centers in the state.

[80][81] Rocky Mount is considered part of the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville television and radio media market, the 25th largest in the United States.

Cargo and charter flights in the area also use the Kinston Regional Jetport (ISO), 50 miles (80 km) to the south.

Amtrak provides three north and three southbound trains per day at the Rocky Mount station located in downtown.