Quonochontaug is a village 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 ...

, United States. It is composed of three small beach communities, and is part of Charlestown.

Geography

Quonochontaug is located between the

Ninigret Pond Ninigret is a coastal lagoon in Charlestown, Rhode Island, in the United States, located at . It is the largest of the nine lagoons, or "salt ponds", in southern Rhode Island. It is utilized for recreational activities, as well as oyster and quaho ...

and

Quonochontaug Pond Quonochontaug is a coastal lagoon in the towns of Charlestown and Westerly, both in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It is the most saline of nine such lagoons (often referred to as "salt ponds") in southern Rhode Island. Geogra ...

and their respective barrier beaches, both of which are salt ponds. The communities of West Beach, Central Beach, and East Beach house several hundred residents, mostly in the summers, and many houses are available as summer rentals. Blue Shutters Beach is town-owned and is located at the end of East Beach Road in Quonochontaug. To the east of Blue Shutters, an unpaved road leads to the entrance of the

Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge The Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge situated along the shore of Ninigret Pond. It is characterized by salt marshes, kettle ponds, freshwater wetlands, maritime shrub lands, and forests, and it is seasonally inhabited ...

. The area was listed 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, such ...

in the 2010 census.

History

Quonochontaug was the site of an iron mining operation financed by Thomas A. Edison in the 1880s. Iron particles existed in the form of black sand on the beach, and they could be separated out with magnets & melted to produce iron. The venture failed after cheaper iron was later discovered.

Historic places

* Babcock House

In popular culture

In the TV series ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'', there are several references to Quonochontaug, related to one of its protagonists,

Fox Mulder Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterrest ...

, whose family had a summer home there.

References

External links

Quonochontaug East Beach Association
{{authority control Census-designated places in Rhode Island Census-designated places in Washington County, Rhode Island Charlestown, Rhode Island Populated coastal places in Rhode Island Providence metropolitan area Villages in Rhode Island Villages in Washington County, Rhode Island