East Natick is a small village in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

. It is centered on the intersection of Bald Hill Road and East Avenue. The village is separated from

Natick Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

proper by the railroad (now the Washington Secondary Trail), and the

Pawtuxet River The Pawtuxet River, also known as the Pawtuxet River Main Stem and the Lower Pawtuxet, is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ac ...

. The other nearby village is

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

, which is northerly across the Pawtuxet. East Natick was home to many industrial workers, who worked in the mills of nearby Natick. Examples of traditional Rhode Island mill housing can be seen in the northerly part in the village. One of the most interesting buildings here is that of the Warwick Ice Cream Company, founded 1930. Built in 1940, it is one of only a few examples of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

architecture in Warwick. It was designed by Providence architect Francis Chiaverini. There is a colonial era farmhouse at 697 East Avenue. East Natick is home to two prominent Rhode Island institutions: the

Community College of Rhode Island The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is a public community college in Rhode Island. It is the only community college in the state and the largest community college in New England. The college's primary facility is located in Warwick, with ...

and the

Rhode Island Mall Midland Commons (formerly Midland Mall from 1965–1985 and Rhode Island Mall from 1985–2011) is an outdoor Retail park, power center in Warwick, Rhode Island. It previously existed as a two-story, enclosed shopping mall. The property op ...

. CCRI is located on the grounds of the former

Knight Estate The Knight Estate is a historic estate in Warwick, Rhode Island, that is home to the Knight Campus of the Community College of Rhode Island. Developed as a country estate for a family of industrialists and later donated to the state, the main ho ...

, owned by first the Spragues and then the Knights, major manufacturing families. The main house, still standing at 486 East Avenue, is believed to have been built by William Sprague between 1827 and his death in 1836. The estate was later donated to the state, and the Rhode Island Junior College, now CCRI, opened there in 1972. The Rhode Island Mall, originally the Midland Mall, opened in 1967. Much of the building is currently vacant.

References

{{coord, 41, 43, 07, N, 71, 28, 55, W, type:city_region:US-RI_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Geography of Rhode Island

See also

References