Woonsocket ( ), is a city in

Providence County, Rhode Island Providence County is the List of counties in Rhode Island, most populous county in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the county's population was 660,741, or 60.2% of the state's population. Provide ...

, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

state line and constitutes part of both the

Providence metropolitan area The Providence metropolitan area is a region extending into eight counties in two states, and is the 38th largest metropolitan area in the United States. Anchored by the city of Providence, Rhode Island, it has an estimated population of 1,622,5 ...

and the larger

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern a ...

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

. The city is the corporate headquarters of CVS Health, a pharmacy services provider. It is home to Landmark Medical Center, the Museum of Work and Culture, and the American-French Genealogical Society.

History

Before the arrival of European settlers in northern Rhode Island during the 17th century, today's Woonsocket region was inhabited by three Native American tribes: the

Nipmuc The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian language. Their historic territory Nippenet, "the freshwater pond place," is in central Massachusetts and nearby part ...

(Cowesett), Wampanoag, and Narragansett. In 1661, the English theologian Roger Williams purchased the area from the "Coweset and Nipmucks", and in a letter referred to modern day Woonsocket as ''Niswosakit''. Other possible derivations of the name include several Nipmuc geographic names from nearby

. These include ''Woonksechocksett'', from Worcester County meaning "fox country", and ''Wannashowatuckqut'', also from Worcester County, meaning "at the fork of the river". Another theory proposes that the city was named after Woonsocket Hill in neighboring

North Smithfield North Smithfield is a town in Providence County Providence County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 660,741, or 60.2% of the state's population. Providence Count ...

. Woonsocket Falls Village was founded in the 1820s. Its fortunes expanded as the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

developed in nearby Pawtucket. With the Blackstone River providing ample water power, the region became a prime location for

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Uni ...

. In 1831 Edward Harris built his first textile mill in Woonsocket. The town of Woonsocket was not established until 1867, when three villages in the town of Cumberland, namely Woonsocket Falls, Social and Jenckesville, officially became the town of Woonsocket. In 1871, three additional industrial villages from Smithfield– Hamlet, Bernon, and Globe, were added to the town, establishing its present boundaries. Woonsocket was incorporated as city in 1888. The growth of industries and associated jobs attracted numerous immigrants, predominantly Québecois and

French-Canadians French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

from other provinces. When the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Holyoke organized a national cultural and benefit society in 1899, the Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d’Amérique, Woonsocket, with its proximity to several industrial areas having large French-Canadian populations, was chosen for the organization's headquarters. By 1913, a survey by the

American Association of Foreign Language Newspapers The American Association of Foreign Language Newspapers was founded by Louis Nicholas Hammerling in 1908. It served as an intermediary between "respectable national advertisers", and the foreign-language newspapers that profited from publishing adv ...

found the city had to have the 6th-largest population of French or French-Canadian foreign nationals in the country. In the decades that followed this population grew, and by time the local textile industry shuttered during the Great Depression, ethnic French Canadians comprised 75 percent of the population. French-language newspapers were published; radio programs, movies, and most public conversations were conducted in French. As recently as 1980, 70% of Woonsocket's population was of French-Canadian descent. The New England French language their ancestors spoke gradually vanished from public discourse.Anctil, "Franco-Americans in New England", p. 41 Throughout the 20th century the city's fortunes ebbed and flowed with national trends. During the Great Depression the textile economy of Woonsocket came to an effective standstill; however, it was revived during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The city became a major center of fabric manufacturing for the war effort, including production of military uniforms. In the postwar years, the Woonsocket economy diversified as manufacturing declined, and other commercial sectors, such as retail, technology and financial services took hold. In the early 1980s Woonsocket was struggling with high unemployment rates. Beginning in 1979, Woonsocket sponsored Autumnfest, an annual cultural festival that takes place on

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...

weekend, at World War II Veteran's Memorial State Park. It has become one of the city's most popular events, attracting thousands of attendees. File:Woonsocket from the East.jpg, Woonsocket from the East, 1886 engraving File:North Smithfield2.jpg, Woonsocket Medical Corporation, founded in 1839 by Dr. Seth Arnold File:Post Office Square, Central Part of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.jpg, Woonsocket in 1855 File:Downtown Woonsocket Rhode Island engraving.jpg, Woonsocket, 1886 engraving

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 t ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (3.14%) is water. Woonsocket is drained by the Blackstone River. Adjacent communities include Blackstone and Bellingham,

, along with Cumberland and

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 it ...

Climate

Woonsocket has a strong

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfa'') with four distinct seasons. Being influenced by both the sea and the interior during winter,

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...

is relatively high, with days most often being above freezing before severe frosts hit at night.

Demographics

At the 2010 census Woonsocket had a population of 41,186. The population was 71.3% non-Hispanic white, 14.2%

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...

, 6.4% African American, 5.4% Asian, 0.4% Native American and 4.3% reporting two or more races. At the 2000 census, there were 43,224 people, 17,750 households, and 10,774 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 18,757 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 83.14%

White White is the 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 reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 4.44%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.32% Native American, 4.06% 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 O ...

, 4.86% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 3.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.32% of the population. Woonsocket is a part of the

, which has an estimated population of 1,622,520. There were 17,750 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.3% were non-families. Of all households, 32.7% were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.02. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,819, and the median income for a family was $38,353. Males had a median income of $31,465 versus $24,638 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 city was $16,223. About 16.7% of families and 19.4% 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 t ...

, including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 14.7% of those age 65 or over. In March 2013, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' reported that one-third of Woonsocket's population used food stamps, putting local merchants on a "boom or bust" cycle each month when EBT payments were deposited. At the 2000 census, 46.1% of Woonsocket's population were identified as being of French or French-Canadian ethnic heritage. The city has referred to itself as .

Arts and culture

Historic sites

Properties and districts in Woonsocket listed on

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 ...

: * 1761 Milestone * Allen Street Historic District * Alphonse Gaulin Jr. House (1885) * Bernon Worsted Mill (1919) * Cato Hill Historic District * Frank Wilbur House (1923) * Glenark Mills (1865) * Grove Street Elementary School (1876) * Hanora Mills (1827) * Harris Warehouse (1855) * Henry Darling House (1865) * Honan's Block and 112-114 Main Street (1879) * Hope Street School (1899) * Island Place Historic District * Jenckes Mansion (1828) * John Arnold House (1712) * L'Eglise du Precieux Sang (1873) * Linton Block (1888) * Logee House (1729) * Main Street Historic District * North End Historic District * Philmont Worsted Company Mill (1919) * Pothier House (1881) * Smith-Ballou House (1906) * Smithfield Friends Meeting House, Parsonage and Cemetery (1719/1881) * South Main Street Historic District * St. Andrews Episcopal Chapel (1894) * St. Ann's Church Complex (1913) *

St. Charles Borromeo Church Complex The St. Charles Borromeo Church is a former Roman Rite, Roman Catholic Church, Catholic parish church in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, located on North Main Street. The parish of St. Charles was canonically suppressed January 12, 2020 and the congre ...

(1867) * Stadium Building (1925) * Union Village Historic District * Woonsocket City Hall (1856) * Woonsocket Civil War Monument (1868) * Woonsocket Company Mill Complex * Woonsocket Depot Square (1847) * Woonsocket District Courthouse (1894) * Woonsocket Rubber Company Mill (1857)

Notable people

* Greg Abate, musician * Norm Abram, master carpenter, TV host/personality * Jonathan Earle Arnold, politician * Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, politician * Rocco Baldelli, former baseball player and current manager of the Minnesota Twins * Latimer Whipple Ballou, congressman *

Bryan Berard Bryan Wallace Berard (born March 5, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. Berard was the first overall pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He is most noted for a debilitating eye injury he received e ...

, hockey player *

Brian Boucher Brian Boucher ( ; born January 2, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who is a game and studio analyst on national ESPN and ABC games and also Philadelphia Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. He played 13 season ...

, hockey player * Percy Daniels, populist politician * Marcel Desaulniers, chef * Eddie Dowling, actor, screenwriter and songwriter *

Allen Doyle Allen Michael Doyle (born July 26, 1948) is an American professional golfer who played on the Nike Tour, PGA Tour, and Champions Tour. Life and career Doyle was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island and raised in the Boston suburb of Norwood, Massach ...

, golfer * Denise Duhamel, poet *

Susan Eisenberg Susan Eisenberg is an American voice, film and television actress. She is best known for being the voice of Wonder Woman in many entertainment media, particularly animations such as the DC Animated Universe animated shows, ''Justice League'' an ...

, voice artist *

Eileen Farrell Eileen Farrell (February 13, 1920 – March 23, 2002) was an American soprano who had a nearly 60-year-long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. NPR noted, "She possessed ...

, opera soprano *

Marie Rose Ferron Marie Rose Ferron (24 May 1902 – 11 May 1936), often called the Little Rose, was a Canadian-American Roman Catholic mystic and stigmatist. Ferron was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2017. Life Ferron was born in ...

, stigmatist * Ernest Fortin, theology professor * Stuart Gitlow, physician * Edward Harris, manufacturer, philanthropist, and abolitionist * Gabby Hartnett, baseball player and manager * Michelle Holzapfel, woodworking artist * Ambrose Kennedy, congressman * Clem Labine, baseball player *

Nap Lajoie Napoléon "Nap" Lajoie (; September 5, 1874 – February 7, 1959), also known as Larry Lajoie and nicknamed "The Frenchman", was an American professional baseball second baseman and player-manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...

, baseball player * Neil Lanctot, historian and author * Francis Leo Lawrence (1937–2013), college president *

William C. Lovering William Croad Lovering (February 25, 1835 – February 4, 1910) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Biography Born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Lovering moved with his parents to Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1837. He attended the Camb ...

, congressman * James McAndrews, congressman * J. Howard McGrath, politician * Dave McKenna, jazz pianist * Susan Menard, politician * Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill, Rhode Island's first woman legislator *

Edwin O'Connor Edwin Greene O'Connor (July 29, 1918 – March 23, 1968) was an American journalist, novelist, and radio commentator. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1962 for his novel '' The Edge of Sadness'' (1961). His ancestry was Irish, and his no ...

, radio personality and novelist * Aram J. Pothier, governor *

Duke Robillard Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948) is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also pla ...

, blues guitarist * Christopher Robinson, congressman *

Mathieu Schneider Mathieu David Schneider (born June 12, 1969) is an American former professional ice hockey player. Considered an offensive defenseman, Schneider played 1,289 games in the National Hockey League with ten different teams, scoring 233 goals and tot ...

, NHL hockey player * Andre Soukhamthath, mixed martial artist * Bill Summers, umpire

Filming location

Woonsocket has served as a filming location for several movies, including '' Hachi: A Dog's Tale'' (2009) and '' The Purge: Election Year'' (2016).https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=Woonsocket,+Rhode+Island,+USA

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Providence County, Rhode Island Cities in Rhode Island French-American culture in Rhode Island History of the textile industry Providence metropolitan area