Hopkinton is a town in

Washington County, Rhode Island Washington County, known locally as South County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,839. Rhode Island counties have no governmental functions other than as court administrat ...

, United States. The population was 8,398 at the 2020 census.

History

Hopkinton is named after Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

who was governor of the

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was an English colony on the eastern coast of America, founded in 1636 by Puritan minister Roger Williams after his exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It became a haven for religious d ...

when the town was partitioned from Westerly and incorporated in 1757. Hopkinton once featured a number of industrial villages, such as Locustville, Moscow, Centerville, and Wood River Iron Works, each being named after the mill which they surrounded. Today only Hope Valley, Rockville, Ashaway, and

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

are recognized with a post office. The town hall is located in the village of Hopkinton City, which was once a stagecoach hub.

Geography

Hopkinton is found at 41.461 N latitude and 71.778 W longitude and borders Richmond and Charlestown. It is on the

Pawcatuck River The Pawcatuck River is a river in the US states of Rhode Island and Connecticut flowing approximately .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 There are eight da ...

and the Ashaway River on the

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. ...

border. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (2.58%) is water. Hopkinton is the southernmost town along Rhode Island's portion of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

and is the first Rhode Island town that northbound travelers encounter.

Villages

Hope Valley in the north and Ashaway in the south are the two primary villages in Hopkinton. Two of the four elementary schools in the Chariho Regional School District are located in Hopkinton, one in Hope Valley and one in Ashaway. Other villages that are located in Hopkinton include Barberville,

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

, Burdickville,

Canonchet Canonchet (also ''Nauntenoo'' or ''Cononchet'' or ''Quanonchet'', died April 3, 1676) was a Narragansett Sachem and leader of Native American troops during the Great Swamp Fight and King Philip's War. He was a son of Miantonomo. Canonchet was ...

, Centerville, Hopkinton City, Locustville,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Rockville, South Hopkinton, Woodville, and Yawgoog. Almost all were formed from mills on rivers. Hope Valley, Ashaway, and Hopkinton (Hopkinton City) are census-designated places (CDPs).

Adjacent towns

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, there were 8,398 people and 3,415 households in the town. The population density was . There were 3,613 housing units in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 92.71%

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 ...

, 0.42%

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 ...

, 0.74% American Indian, 0.64% Asian, 0.77% from other races, and 4.72% 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 2.55% of the population. There were 3,415 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 23.2% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 13.0% had a male householder with no spouse present. 7.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.83. The population was spread out, with 17.8% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 20.5% from 25 to 44, 33.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. The median income for a household in the town was $97,576, and the median income for a family was $104,615. The per capita income for the town was $45,865. About 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over. As of 2017, the largest self-identified ancestry groups or ethnic groups in Hopkinton were:

Politics

Hopkinton is located in the 34th Senate District, represented by Republican Elaine J. Morgan, and in the 38th District in the Rhode Island House of Representatives by Democrat Brian Patrick Kennedy. At the Federal level, Hopkinton is located in Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District, which is currently represented by James Langevin (D). Hopkinton is represented by U.S. Senator John F. Reed (D) and U.S. Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2007 as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1998 as the United States Att ...

(D).

Notable people

* Prudence Crandall taught the first desegregated classroom in the United States; born in Hopkinton *

Edward Lee Greene Edward Lee Greene (August 20, 1843–November 10, 1915) was an American botanist known for his numerous publications including the two-part ''Landmarks of Botanical History'' and the describing of over 4,400 species of plants in the American W ...

, botanist; born in Hopkinton * Benjamin Randall, Wisconsin State Assemblyman; born in Hopkinton * Dorcas James Spencer (1841–1933), social activist, writer * John Wilbur, Quaker minister; born in Hopkinton

National Historic Places

* Black Farm * Bradford Village Historic District in Hopkinton and Westerly * Hope Valley Historic District * Hopkinton City Historic District * Tomaquag Rock Shelters * Upper Rockville Mill * Wyoming Village Historic District

References

External links

*
Town of Hopkinton official website
{{authority control Towns in Washington County, Rhode Island Towns in Rhode Island Providence metropolitan area