Jamestown, Rhode Island

Jamestown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island in the United States. The population was 5,405 at the 2010 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay. It also includes the uninhabited Dutch Island and Gould Island. Jamestown is ranked as the 444th wealthiest place to live in the United States as of 2016, with a median home sale price of $1,229,039.[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 35.3 square miles (91 km2), of which 9.7 square miles (25 km2) is land and 25.6 square miles (66 km2) is water. The total area is 72.55% water.

Rhode Island Route 138 is the only state highway in Jamestown, connecting the town and island to North Kingstown to the west (over the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge) and Newport to the east (over the Newport Bridge).

Pascoag, Rhode Island

Pascoag /ˈpæskoʊɡ/ is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in Providence County, Rhode Island. The population was 4,577 at the 2010 census.[3] Pascoag is one of eight villages that make up the town of Burrillville.

Pascoag is located at 41°57′27″N 71°42′21″W / 41.95750°N 71.70583°W / 41.95750; -71.70583 (41.957401, -71.705957).[4] The village is centered on the Pascoag River at its outlet from the Pascoag Reservoir. The river drops 60 feet (18 m) through the village, providing ample power for industry in the village's early days. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 5.5 square miles; 5 square miles is land and 0.4 square miles (7.88%) is water.

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 4,742 people, 1,642 households, and 1,175 families residing in the village. The racial makeup was 98.33% White, 0.36% African American, 0.32% American Indian, 0.27% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 0.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population. The population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. The median income for a household was $48,778, and the median income for a family was $54,391.

West Kingston, Rhode Island

West Kingston is an unincorporated village in the town of South Kingstown in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. West Kingston is the site of the Kingston Railroad Station Amtrak station. Before Rhode Island abolished county government, West Kingston was the county seat of Washington County, Rhode Island for many years, although it itself is a village and therefore hosts no local government.[citation needed]

Although unincorporated, West Kingston has a post office and recognized mailing address location. It shares zip code 02892 with much of western South Kingstown, a large portion of Richmond, Rhode Island to the west, and small parts of Exeter, Rhode Island to the north. However, West Kingston is not a part of the latter two towns.[1]

Johnston, Rhode Island

Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 28,769 at the 2010 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House (1691) a stone-ender museum[3] and the only landfill in Rhode Island. Incorporated on March 6, 1759, Johnston was named for the colonial attorney general, Augustus Johnston.[4][5]

The area was first settled by English settlers in the seventeenth century as a farming community. In 1759 the town officially separated from Providence and was incorporated on March 6, 1759. Johnston was named for the current colonial attorney general, Augustus Johnston, who was later burned in effigy during the Stamp Act protests in 1765 and then fled Rhode Island as a Tory during the American Revolution in 1779.[5] The first house of worship in Johnston opened when the Baptist Meeting House in Belknap was constructed in 1771. During the American Revoluation Rhode Island's only gunpowder mill was constructed in Graniteville, and the town hosted American General John Sullivan for a dinner in 1779 upon his departure from Rhode Island to fight in New York. In 1790 the Belknap School, the first public school in the town, was founded. In 1791 the Providence and Norwich Turnpike (today's Plainfield Pike) was chartered.[6]

At the 2000 census,[1] there were 28,195 people, 11,197 households and 7,725 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,191.4 per square mile (459.9/km²). There were 11,574 housing units at an average density of 489.1 per square mile (188.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.66% White especially Italian Americans (46.7%), 0.65% African American, 0.13% Native American, 1.08% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.89% of the population.

Pawtucket, Rhode Island

The Pawtucket region was said to have been one of the most populous places in New England prior to the arrival of European settlers.[5]Native Americans would gather here to take advantage of the salmon and smaller fish which gathered at the falls.[5] The first European settler here was Joseph Jenckes, who came to the region from Lynn, Massachusetts.[5] He purchased about 60 acres near Pawtucket Falls in 1671.[5] He established a sawmill and forge.[5] These, along with the entire town, were later destroyed during King Philip's War.[5]

Other settlers followed Jencks, and by 1775 the area was home to manufacturers of muskets, linseed oil, potash, and ship building.[5] Also around this time Oziel Wilkinson and his family set up an iron forge making anchors, nails, screws, farm implements, and even cannons.[5]

Pawtucket was an early and important center of cotton textiles during the American Industrial Revolution. Slater Mill, built in 1793 by Samuel Slater on the Blackstone River falls in downtown Pawtucket, was the first fully mechanized cotton-spinning mill in America.[6] Slater Mill is known for developing a commercially successful production process not reliant on earlier horse-drawn processes developed in America. Slater constructed and operated machines for producing yarn. Other manufacturers continued, transforming Pawtucket into a center for textiles, iron working, and other products.

West Warwick, Rhode Island

West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the state.[3] Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the western bank of the Pawtuxet River, was the population and industrial center of the larger town of Warwick. The town split because local Democratic politicians wanted to consolidate their power and isolate their section of town from the Republican-dominated farmland in the east.[4]

The area that is now the town of West Warwick was the site of some of the earliest textile mills in the United States situated along the banks of the north and south branches of the Pawtuxet River.[5] These small mill villages would play an important role in the early development of the textile industry in North America. Lippitt Mill founded in 1809 by Revolutionary War hero, Christopher Lippitt, was one of the first mills in the area.[6]

The 1810 Lippitt Mill is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of the earliest textile mills in Rhode Island.[7] It was founded in 1809 and the current dam was constructed in 1889. The Mill is one of the earliest textile mills in Rhode Island and is one of the oldest American textile mills still used for manufacturing.[6] Another mill center, River Point, is located at the junction of the North and South branches of the Pawtuxet River, and is home to several mills which have been converted to residences, and which make up the Royal Mill Complex. The Original Bradford Soap Works, located in the Valley Queen Mill, dates back to the 1800s and is still in use today.[8]

Samuel Clarke Farm

The Samuel Clarke House, dating to c.1691, is one of the earliest surviving structures in the State of Rhode Island. It is the central building of the Samuel Clarke Farm, a 40-acre parcel in Kenyon, Rhode Island, within the Town of Richmond. The farm is bordered to the west by the Beaver River. This property was originally part of a larger parcel (one mile wide and five miles long) that was sold in 1662 by the Niantic Sachem Wanumachon. This historic land transaction is known as the Stanton Purchase. ]]

Joseph Clarke (1642-1727) purchased approximately 200 acres of the Stanton Purchase land the following year. By 1691 Joseph Clarke had transferred a parcel to his son, Samuel (1672-1769). Samuel Clarke built the original portion of the farmhouse on this land in about 1691. A large carved granite block in the keeping room fireplace, just below the original beehive bake oven, memorializes this date. The original farmhouse was modified and expanded in the 18th century. The gambrel-roofed house is constructed on the five room plan. Remarkably, the house retains its original exterior wide oak weatherboards - on the north side, early 18th-century window sash and frames, a massive granite central chimney with four fireplaces and nearly all of its original period interior architectural detail.The kitchen addition to the north was added sometime in the late 19th century.

Extant farm buildings include a red-painted 19th-century barn, a corn crib - on its original granite piers, carriage and wood sheds, an outhouse, a stone blacksmith’s shop and forge, a stone root cellar, and a one-room schoolhouse (built in 1812). A well-preserved Clarke Family cemetery is also located on the property.

Wakefield-Peacedale, Rhode Island

Wakefield-Peacedale is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of South Kingstown in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States that includes the villages of Peace Dale and Wakefield. The population was 8,468 at the 2000 census.

At the 2000 census,[1] there were 8,468 people, 3,221 households and 2,174 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 671.4/km² (1,739.4/mi²). There were 3,385 housing units at an average density of 268.4/km² (695.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.34% White, 2.01% African American, 3.08% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.56% from other races, and 2.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.56% of the population.

There were 3,221 households of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.14.

Westerly, Rhode Island

Westerly is a town on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County, Rhode Island, first settled by English colonists in 1661 and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. It is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a population of 22,787 as of the 2010 census.

The Pawcatuck River flows on the western border of Westerly and was once renowned for its own species of Westerly salmon, three of which are on the town's official seal. The river flows from 15 mi (24 km) inland, emptying into Little Narragansett Bay. It also serves as the boundary between Westerly and Pawcatuck, Connecticut. Three large salt ponds lie along the coast of Westerly which serve as shallow, reef-like pools whose outer walls form the long, white beaches for which the town is renowned. From west to east, these ponds are Maschaug Pond, Winnapaug Pond, and Quonochontaug Pond.

The Westerly area was known for its granite and stone-cutting industry,[3][4] which quarried a unique stone known as Westerly granite. This pinkish granite is ideal for statuary and has been used in numerous government buildings of several states on the eastern seaboard. [5]

Kingston, Rhode Island

Kingston is a village and a census-designated place in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, and the site of the main campus of the University of Rhode Island. Much of the village center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Kingston Village Historic District.

Kingston was first settled in the late seventeenth century. Originally known as Little Rest, the name was changed to Kingston in 1826. It was the county seat for Washington County (formerly Kings County) from 1752 until 1894, when a new courthouse was built in nearby West Kingston. West Kingston is also the site of the historic Kingston Railroad Station which opened in June, 1875. The station is served by Amtrak on its Northeast Corridor.

South Kingstown established the Kingston Historic District in 1959, and much of Kingston village became a National Register historic district in 1974 as Kingston Village Historic District. The historic district is located just outside the campus of the University of Rhode Island and contains many fine examples of 18th and 19th century architecture. The historic district includes 38 buildings.