of North Carolina, favored "Raleigh" after his hometown. The others agreed with Coppedge on the condition that it should not have "that silly spelling, but should be spelled 'Rolla'." The county seat locating commission designated the area now known as Rolla to be the county seat.

The town of Rolla did not exist when the county was officially created (November 1857); only the houses of J. Stever and John Webber were located in the area. Early court