Glocester, otherwise officially called the Town of Glocester, Rhode Island, is a

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 ...

Providence County, Rhode Island 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 County contains the city of Providence, the state cap ...

, United States. The population was 9,974 as of the 2020 census. The villages of Chepachet and

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

are in Glocester. Putnam Pike (

U.S. Route 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonks ...

) runs west through the town center of Glocester into Putnam,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

History

Glocester, originally named Gloucester for

Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester (8 July 164013 September 1660) was the youngest son of Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France. He is also known as Henry of Oatlands. From the age of two, Henr ...

, was a part of the City of Providence until 1731, when it had become an independent town within the

State of 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 Island ...

. Northern Glocester would be incorporated as the Town of Burrillville in 1806, whilst at the same time, the residents of Gloucester had voted to change the spelling of the town name from Gloucester to Glocester in order to differentiate it from the City of Gloucester, Massachusetts, holding the same meaning as Glocester is a historical and alternative variant of the word of Gloucester. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

from Newport were exiled in Glocester to Stephen Keach's farm, including Thomas Vernon, a Tory from Newport, who described Glocester residents in 1776 as:

inclined much to talk of liberty...It is amazing what false and erroneous opinions and ideas these people have entertained...The religion of the people of this town consists entirely of
New Light Baptists The terms Old Lights and New Lights (among others) are used in Protestant Christian circles to distinguish between two groups that were initially the same but had come to a disagreement. The terms originated in the early 18th century from a split i ...
. The custom of Dipping is much in vogue in this and the neighboring towns.''Diary of Thomas Vernon''
pgs. 9, 26

Samuel Willard (physician) Samuel Willard (April 13, 1748 – March 7, 1801) was an American physician who established the first hospital for mental illness in the United States. Early life and career Samuel Willard, the son of Dr. Nahum Willard of Lancaster, Massachusett ...

made rounds on

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

victims in North Glocester during the late 18th century. The Dorr Rebellion began in Glocester in 1841. Since 1927 the Ancient and Horribles Parade has been an annual

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

tradition in Chepachet, where residents create traditional and satirical political floats.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (3.55%) is water. Some bodies of water in Glocester include, Waterman Reservoir.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 9,974 people and 3,780 households in the town. The population density was . There were 4,213 housing units in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 92.56%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.55%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.13% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 1.14% from other races, and 4.96% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.76% of the population. There were 3,780 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 16.2% had a male householder with no spouse present. 13.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.12. In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.8% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 19.2% from 25 to 44, 34.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48.4 years. The median income for a household in the town was $111,243, and the median income for a family was $120,417. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $46,846. About 2.9% of the population was 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 ...

, including 0.0% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Glocester is the home to both West Glocester Elementary School in West Glocester and the

Fogarty Memorial School Fogarty is a surname of Irish origin. The name Fogarty in Ireland is derived from the native Irish Language, Irish Ó Fogartaigh Sept who were located in County Tipperary where the name is still very prevalent to this very day. According to his ...

in Harmony. Students of both would attend both Ponaganset Middle School and Ponaganset High School for secondary education.

Notable people

* Charles J. Fogarty, Rhode Island state senator and 67th Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island; lived in Glocester * Ray Fogarty, Rhode Island state representative, lived in Glocester * Paul Fogarty, Rhode Island politician; born in Glocester * Charles H. Page, Rhode Island politician; born in Glocester *

Arthur Steere Arthur Wallace Steere (1865–1943) was a Rhode Island politician and prominent businessman and landowner. Biography Steere (known as "A.W.") was born in Glocester, Rhode Island, on September 3, 1865, to Seth Hunt Steere and Lucy L. Smith. ...

, businessman and Rhode Island state senator, born in Glocester

National Historic Sites in Glocester

* Chepachet Village Historic District * Cherry Valley Archeological Site, RI-279 * Glocester Town Pound (1748) * Harmony Chapel and Cemetery (1816) * Manton-Hunt-Farnum Farm (1793)

References

External links

Town of Glocester website

Chepachet Fire Department

Glocester Heritage Society

Glocester Libraries, Chepachet

Harmony Library, Harmony
{{Portal bar, United States, Rhode Island, New England, Geography Towns in Providence County, Rhode Island Providence metropolitan area Towns in Rhode Island