By 1837, the town was manufacturing twice as many shoes as all other towns in the county put together. Rockland is supposed to have shod half the Union Army, along with pioneering in machine sewn shoes and producing fur-lined boots. Trollies and trains tied the town to Abington, Hanover and Brockton in the 19th century and the town was incorporated in 1874. By 1865, 2800 male and female workers produced $3.5 million worth of shoes and boots compared to $1.46 million in Brockton. Most shoe factories closed in the Depression years but intense commercial expansion along Route 123 brought suburban development with it, since the town is only 20 miles southeast of Boston.

Although Rockland has been an industrial community since the mid-19th century, there are large tracts of town which remain wooded and the town retains a somewhat rural quality.

Rockland Massachusetts is located in Southeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Weymouth and Hingham on the north, Norwell and Hanover on the east, Hanson on the south, and Whitman and Abington on the west. Rockland is about 8 miles east of Brockton.