The bird we now call the Barred Plymouth Rock originated in the 1860s, in Worcester, Massachusetts, when Mr. D. A. Upham crossed a Dominique cock and either a Black Java or a Black Cochin hen. The breed he helped to develop was, like the Dominique, hardy and thrifty. It was a bit heavier than the Dominique, and an excellent producer of meat and eggs. The Barred Plymouth Rock became the most common farm chicken in the United States.

The handsome birds were popular with fanciers as well. Other color varieties were developed, including white, which was soon selected for meat production and is now used to produce the ubiquitous Rock-Cornish hybrid broiler.