Cumberland is the northeasternmost
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares ...
in
Providence County,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...
, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 36,405 at the
2020 census, making it the seventh-largest municipality and the largest town in the state.
History
Cumberland was originally settled as part of
Wrentham,
, which was purchased from the local Indigenous Americans by the
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...
. It was later transferred to Rhode Island as part of a long-running boundary dispute. The town was named in honor of
Prince William, Duke of Cumberland
Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S./nowiki> – 31 October 1765) was the third and youngest son of Great Britain and Kingdom of Irel ...
.
[
William Blackstone (also spelled William Blaxton in colonial times) was the first European to settle and live in Cumberland. (He was also the first European to have settled in Boston, but left when he and the newly arrived Puritans disagreed about religion.) He preached his brand of tolerant Christianity under an oak tree that became an inspiration to Christians worldwide.] He lived on a farm in the Lonsdale area of Cumberland, where he cultivated the first variety of American apples, the Yellow Sweeting. The site of his home is now occupied by the Ann & Hope mill.
The popular tourist destination " Nine Men's Misery" is a tomb found on the grounds of a former Trappist monastery (Abbey of Our Lady of the Valley), part of which was destroyed in a fire in 1950. The Trappists sold the monastery and grounds to the town and part of the building was converted into the Edward J. Hayden Library, aka Cumberland Public Library in 1976. This combined three smaller libraries into one.
Cumberland was the site of iron works that made cannons and cannonballs for the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
and the American Revolution. Additionally, Cumberland (along with the neighboring towns of Central Falls, RI, Lincoln, RI, and Attleboro, Massachusetts
Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers. According to the 2020 census, Attleboro had a population of 46,461.
Attleboro is ...
) was the home of the Valley Falls Company, which is the original antecedent of Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...
, now one of the world's largest and most successful companies.
A machine shop in Cumberland made the first power loom
A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed in 1786 by Edmund Cartwright and first built that same yea ...
s for woolens in America. These were reportedly used at the Capron Mill
The Bernat Mill, also known as Capron Mill, and later Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, was an American yarn mill in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, that was for the most part destroyed by fire on July 21, 2007.
This mill complex at Uxbridge had been a ...
in Uxbridge, around 1820, that burned in a fire in 2007.
Cumberland is home to the headquarters and original location of the Ann & Hope chain of discount stores which claims to be the first chain of discount department stores in America and was founded in 1955.
Cumberland is in the lower Blackstone Valley of Rhode Island and in the John H. Chafee, Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, New England's historic National Park area.
Aaron Fricke was denied a request to bring a same-sex date to a school prom at Cumberland High School 1979. In an early legal victory for LGBT rights, a federal court held that such a denial violated the student's free speech rights, in ''Fricke v. Lynch
''Fricke v. Lynch'', 491 F. Supp. 381 (D.R.I. 1980), was a decision in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island that upheld the right of Aaron Fricke to bring a same-sex date to a high school dance. The Court ruled that ex ...
''.
In the summers of 2011 and 2014, the Cumberland American Little League baseball team, led by coach David Belisle (both times), won the New England Regional Little League Baseball Championship and went on to play in the Little League World Series.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy
An economy is an area of th ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 6.40%, is water.
Cumberland is the easternmost town along the state's northern border with Massachusetts, making it the state's de facto northeasternmost town. Cumberland borders the Rhode Island cities of Woonsocket to the northwest and Central Falls, to the south and the town of Lincoln to the west as well as the Massachusetts towns of Wrentham to the north, Plainville and North Attleborough
North Attleborough, alternatively spelled North Attleboro, is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 30,834 at the 2020 United States Census.
The villages of Attleboro Falls and North Attleborough Center are ...
to the east and city of Attleboro to the southeast.
The Rhode Island state rock Cumberlandite is a rare iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
-rich mineral unique to the region. The only large deposit of the mineral in the world is found off Elder Ballou Meeting House Road in northern Cumberland. Though the ore was used to make cannons during the colonial era, the resulting casts were of poor quality and prone to cracking. A major geologic feature of the area is Diamond Hill, a massive outcropping of white quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...
. The hill once was host to two small ski areas and is now a town park.
Demographics
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2010, there were 33,506 people, 13,143 households, and 9,232 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 13,791 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 92.8% White
White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
, 1.5% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
, 0.3% Indigenous American, 2.3% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...
, 1.4% from some other race, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 4.5% of the population.
There were 13,143 households, out of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were headed by married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.
At the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the town was $72,242, and the median income for a family was $84,038. Males had a median income of $41,073 versus $29,188 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the town was $32,378. About 2.9% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.
Government
In the Rhode Island Senate, Cumberland is split in its representation between the 19th District, represented by Democrat Ryan W. Pearson
Ryan W. Pearson (born June 30, 1988) is an American businessman and politician from Cumberland, Rhode Island. A Democrat, he serves in the Rhode Island Senate, representing the 19th district. He took office on January 1, 2013, and was named Chairm ...
, and the 20th District, represented by Democrat Roger A. Picard. At the federal level, Cumberland is a part of Rhode Island's 1st congressional district, currently represented by Democrat David N. Cicilline
David Nicola Cicilline (; born July 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011, the first openly ga ...
.
In presidential elections, Cumberland is reliably Democratic as no Republican presidential nominee has carried the town in over three decades.
Schools
The school system is led by its seven-member School Committee that is elected to serve for two years and includes a Chairperson, Vice-chairperson and Clerk. The School Committee hires a Superintendent of Schools to administer policies and to manage and lead learning in the district. The Cumberland Superintendent of Schools (in chronological order) are Mr. Robert Condon, Dr. Robert McGinnis, Mr. Rodney McFarlin, Dr. Robert Patterson, Mr. Robert Wallace (1993–1996), Mr. Joseph Nasif (1996–2005), Dr. Donna Morelle (2005–2011), Dr. Phil Thornton (2011–2015), and Mr. Robert Mitchell (2015–present).
Cumberland is home to a public charter school, the first Rhode Island Mayoral Academy, Blackstone Valley Prep (originally Democracy Prep Blackstone Valley). The school opened in the fall of 2009 with Kindergarten.
The Blackstone Valley Prep High School, a $10 million mayoral charter school, opened in 2017 on the site of a former lumber center in Valley Falls.
The one non-public school in Cumberland
Mercymount Country Day School
is run by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, a Roman Catholic order which has its New England regional headquarters in Cumberland.
Culture and traditions
Cumberland is home to the Arnold Mills Fourth of July Parade and 4 Mile Road Race, which is held each year to celebrate (Fourth of July
Independence Day ( colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United State ...
). The first recorded Arnold Mills Parade was held on July 4, 1927. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, the road race was held "virtually" for the first time.
Cumberland Farms, a large convenience store chain, takes its name from the original dairy farm business in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
A popular event, Cumberlandfest, is held each year on the second weekend of August at Diamond Hill
Diamond Hill is a hill in the east of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The name also refers to the area on or adjacent to the hill. It is surrounded by Ngau Chi Wan, San Po Kong, Wong Tai Sin and Tsz Wan Shan. Its northeast is limited by the ridge. It i ...
Park on Diamond Hill Road. This event features a carnival, with rides and venues, as well as live entertainment and a small fireworks show. Proceeds go to the town's athletic programs.
The Blackstone River Theatre at 549 Broad Street hosts a wide variety of cultural events mostly in the form of intimate concerts encompassing the prevailing traditional cultures of the people who settled the Blackstone Valley. The Blackstone River Theatre sponsors the annual Summer Solstice Festival at Diamond Hill State Park in Cumberland.
Historic Metcalf-Franklin Farm on Abbott Run Valley Road was the last working dairy farm in Cumberland. Open historic fields, exposed farmers walls and a traditional "cow" pond are open for exploration. The 1810s barn and 1850s house are in the process of historical preservation.
Notable people
* John Capron, Sr. (1797–1878), military officer, state legislator, and textile manufacturer; born in Cumberland
* Aaron Fricke, gay rights activist and author; successfully sued Cumberland High School for not allowing him to bring his same-sex partner to prom
* Public Universal Friend (1752–1819), genderless evangelist; non-binary icon; born in Cumberland
* Johnny Goryl, Major League Baseball infielder 1957–1964; born in Cumberland
* Richard Jenkins, actor ('' Six Feet Under'', '' Cheaper by the Dozen''); nominated in 2008 for Academy Award for Best Actor ('' The Visitor''); lives in Cumberland
* Brian Lawton
Brian Robert Lawton (born June 29, 1965) is an Americans, American former professional ice hockey player, Sports agent, agent and General manager (ice hockey), general manager, who played 483 regular season games in the National Hockey League (N ...
, left wing for six different National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
teams; grew up in Cumberland
* David Macaulay, British-born author and illustrator; graduated from Cumberland High School
* Dan McKee, 76th Governor of Rhode Island
The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Democrat Dan McKee. In their capac ...
(2021–) and former Lieutenant Governor (2015–2021); the town's former mayor from 2007 to 2015; member of the town council for multiple terms
* Cory Pesaturo
Cory Pesaturo is an American musician from Cumberland, Rhode Island. Pesaturo is an accordion player, who also plays the piano, clarinet, and saxophone. He began playing at the age of nine, and in 2002, became the youngest person to win the Natio ...
, musician; three-time world champion, only person to ever win in acoustic, digital and jazz accordion; from Cumberland
* Stephen Peterson, rower on 1996 U.S. Olympic team and gold medalist at 1990 World Rowing Championships
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...
* Pete Wells, restaurant critic for ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
* Tim White, referee for World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...
(WWE); born in Cumberland
* Inez Whipple Wilder
Inez Whipple Wilder (May 19, 1871 – April 29, 1929), born Inez Luanne Whipple, was an American herpetologist and anatomist, affiliated with Smith College from 1902 until her death. She made notable contributions to the study of fingerprints an ...
(1871–1929), zoologist who studied fingerprints and salamanders; born in Cumberland
National Registered Historic Places
* Arnold Mills Historic District
* Ashton Historic District
* Ballou-Weatherhead House
* Berkeley Mill Village
* Burlingame-Noon House
* John Cole Farm
* Furnace Carolina Site
*Luke Jillson House
The Luke Jillson House, also known as the Fisk House, is a historic house in Cumberland, Rhode Island. The wood-frame house is an excellent local example of Georgian style. Although a common date given for its construction is 1752, it was more ...
*St. Joseph's Church Complex
St. Joseph Church is parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Cumberland, Rhode Island within the Diocese of Providence. It is known for its historic campus at 1303 Mendon Road, which includes a Gothic Revival style church, designed by James Murp ...
* Lewis Tower House
*Tower-Flagg Barn Complex
The Tower-Flagg Barn Complex is (or was) a historic site in Cumberland, Rhode Island at 100 Abbott Run Valley Road. Its most significant feature was a barn complex whose oldest section was an English barn that was probably constructed in the sec ...
* Whipple-Jenckes House
* Metcalf-Franklin Farm
References
External links
Town of Cumberland official website
Cumberland Public Library
Cumberland School Department
Arnold Mills July 4th Parade and Road Race
short biography of a local pioneer
Detailed history of Cumberland
from ''History of the State of Rhode Island'', by Albert J. Wright, 1878
Historic Metcalf-Franklin Farm website
{{authority control
Towns in Providence County, Rhode Island
Providence metropolitan area
History of the textile industry
Portuguese-American culture in Rhode Island
Towns in Rhode Island