Roll (pronounced "r-awl', rhymes with "fall")[3] is an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Blackford County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.

[5] The Gas Boom gradually ended during the beginning of the 20th century, and many small communities throughout the region never recovered.

In addition, the quality of automobiles and roads improved over the following decades — indirectly contributing to the decline of many small communities as consumers drove to larger cities.

As transportation improved even more, Roll merchants also lost business to larger communities.

After the gas boom prosperity declined, agriculture again ascended to be the most important economic factor in Roll's corner of Blackford County.

The Miami tribe was the most powerful group of Indians in the region, and they were known to visit what would become northern Blackford County.

A national Post Office directory for 1855 lists a Dundee in Blackford County.

[10] The 1860 United States census lists Dundee as the Post Office for Washington Township in Blackford County.

One of the farmers was Ohio-born Mathias Roll, age 55, living with his wife and five children (see picture of Census page in Wikimedia Commons).

The Census lists Hartford City, instead of Dundee, as the Post Office for the Roll family in Washington Township.

[16] Blackford County had a total of 25 registered physicians in 1882, and three were listed as living in Roll (not Dundee).

[19] Numerous manufacturing companies moved to the Blackford County area, lured by promises of free or low-cost natural gas.

Roll did not have access to a navigable waterway or a railroad (see 1890s map) – while nearby Marion (to the west), Montpelier (east), and Hartford City (south) all benefited from vital transportation resources.

[28] By the 1960s, Roll was still a small community with a barbershop and general store, a gas station or two, a church or two, and an empty school building.

[30] "Doc" Banter's barber chair is now on display in the Blackford County Historical Society's museum.

During the late evening hours of May 27, 2019, an EF-3 tornado with winds of 150 mph occurred north of Roll, which caused 2 significant injuries.

[32] The Blackford County area sits on top of former gas and oil fields.