Carolina is a village that straddles the border of the towns of Charlestown and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

on the

Pawcatuck River The Pawcatuck River is a river in the US states of Rhode Island and Connecticut flowing approximately .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 There are eight d ...

in Washington County,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Rhode Island Route 112 passes through the village. Carolina is identified as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

, with a population of 970 at the 2010 census.

Overview

The Carolina Village Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974. It includes examples of

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

, and Queen Anne style. It comprises 71 properties over an area of , including a former mill complex and nearby residences. It encompasses properties along Carolina Main Street and Carolina Back Road and their vicinity between Pine Hill Road and Alton-Carolina Road ( Route 91), including houses along Butter Lane, Tall Pines Drive, Schoolhouse Lane, Carolina Mill Lane, and Downs Court.

History

In 1802, the first wooden dam and a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

were built on the river at the site of the village, which was then known as Nichols Bridge.Historic and Architectural Resources of Richmond, Rhode Island: A Preliminary Report
Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1977Historic and Architectural Resources of Charlestown, Rhode Island: A Preliminary Report
Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, 1981 A few years later, a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

was established, with production buildings mostly located in Richmond and some employee housing located across the river in Charlestown. Rowland G. Hazard bought the mill in 1843 and renamed it the Carolina Mills Company in honor of his wife Caroline Newbold Hazard of South Kingstown. The village around the mill was also given the same name. The Rhode Island Historic Preservation Commission described 19th-century Carolina as a "center for the surrounding area, including a school, a church, a post office, a bank, several stores, a blacksmith shop, and halls for meetings, lectures, and 'entertainments'." The local post office was named "Carolina Mills" from 1850 until 1879, when it was renamed "Carolina." In 1862, the complex switched from cotton textile production to production of woolens. The Hazard family operated the mill complex until 1863, when they leased it to T.R. Hyde & Co., which was a partnership between Thomas R. Hyde and Rowland Hazard II that operated the mill until 1868. The mill was sold to new owners in 1869, but Rowland Hazard II operated it as a lessee until at least 1877.Carolina Mills Records
Rhode Island Historical Society, Manuscripts Division The mill complex operated until 1930 or 1935. American Fish Culture 1994

The mill complex deteriorated after its closure, and Carolina became a residential community. However, other components of the village remained intact and it was listed on the National Register in 1974. The portion of Carolina village which is located in the town of Richmond includes a corridor of about two dozen 1-story and 1½-story cottages and other domestic buildings built between about 1840 and 1870. Other buildings of historic interest include the remains of the mill; the Carolina School, built in 1845; the Carolina Free Will Baptist Church, built in 1845 and relocated in 1865; the octagonal Albert Potter House, built in 1867; and a 2½-story Queen Anne style house built by Ellison Tinkham, who was one of the owners of the mills from 1868 until 1907. Carolina was also the site of one of the first trout farms in America. John W. Hoxie established the ''Clearwater Trout Farm'' in 1877 on White Brook on land leased from Rowland G. Hazard, north of the village center. Two years later, Hoxie's brother Charles established his own ''White Brook Trout Hatchery'' on an adjacent plot of land along the brook. By 1892, the White Brook Trout Hatchery was incorporated as the ''American Fish Culture Company'' with Rowland Hazard II as a minority shareholder. The Hazard family gained controlling interest in the corporation in 1899. Upon the death of John W. Hoxie in 1903, the R. Hazard Estate acquired full interest in Clearwater Trout Farm, and both farms were eventually merged and operated as American Fish Culture Company by the Hazard Family until its sale to the State of

in 1995. By the early 1920s, American Fish Culture Company was considered to be the largest fish farm in America.

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. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the Carolina CDP has a total area of 2.48 square miles (6.43 km), of which 2.46 square miles (6.37 km) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km) (0.85%) is water. Carolina has its own zip code, 02812, but only the Richmond side is serviced by the Carolina post office despite the post office building being located in Charlestown.

References

{{authority control Villages in Washington County, Rhode Island Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Census-designated places in Washington County, Rhode Island History of the textile industry Charlestown, Rhode Island Richmond, Rhode Island Providence metropolitan area Villages in Rhode Island Census-designated places in Rhode Island

Overview

History

Geography

See also

References