Blackrock is a village in Kent County,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located in the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

between the villages of

Anthony Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the '' Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descenda ...

and Arkwright. The area was named after a large dark rock which was rumored to be the site of Native American marriage ceremonies. The rock is located on Blackrock Road. The village of 40 people was founded in 1814 when William Greene first sold a parcel of his land to the Black Rock Cotton Manufacturing Company for the initial construction of a dam on the Black Rock Brook which flows from Black Rock Pond. The dam provided power for a mill. Nicholas Potter bought the mill in 1824 and converted it into a machine shop and later a broom factory. Samuel Greene was a prominent teacher in the area. With expansion, the village of Blackrock is now largely a continuation of the village of Anthony. There is an elementary school named after the Black Rock.

References

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