Washington is a village within the town of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

Kent County, Rhode Island Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 170,363, making it the second-most populous county in Rhode Island. The county was formed in 1750 from the southern third of Providen ...

, and is part of the .

Background

The village was first settled in the 1670s around the time of

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

. It was re-settled after the War and named Braytontown after a local family, the Braytons, who resided in the Paine House which is "the oldest surviving building in the village of Washington and was once a Tavern. This house was built in 1748 by Francis Brayton. Today the Paine House is home to the Western Rhode Island Civic Historical Society." The village was renamed "Washington" in 1810 after the Washington Manufacturing Company. The Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad maintained a train depot and other buildings near Station Street and along the bike path. The Spencer Marble Works (later Richmond Marble Work), which was located near the train depot, was operated by Oren Spencer and produced gravestones into the twentieth century. Starting around 1880 Calvin Hopkins operated a Blacksmith Shop at 137 South Main Street, which later developed into an automobile repair shop with the advent of the automobile. Coventry's town house was constructed in Washington in 1881. When the Flat River Road was widened the village-like character of the area changed drastically.

References

Villages in Kent County, Rhode Island Coventry, Rhode Island Census-designated places in Kent County, Rhode Island Providence metropolitan area Villages in Rhode Island Census-designated places in Rhode Island {{RhodeIsland-geo-stub