North Smithfield 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 ...

in Providence 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, settled as a farming community in 1666 and incorporated into its present form in 1871. North Smithfield includes the historic villages of Forestdale, Primrose,

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, Branch Village, Union Village, Park Square, and Slatersville. The population was 12,588 at the 2020 census.

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 (2.83%) is water. North Smithfield is in a New England upland region. The Branch River and

Blackstone River The Blackstone River in the United States is a river that flows through Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is long with a drainage area of 475 mi2 (1229 km2). It drains into the tidal river, Pawtucket River at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Pawtuck ...

s provided much of the power for the early mills in the town. The town consists mainly of temperate forests, with minor elevation changes. At , Woonsocket Hill in North Smithfield is one of the highest points in Rhode Island. Residents can expect mild summers and harsh winters.

History

In the 17th century

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colonists settled in North Smithfield developing a

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

community that they named after Smithfield,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in England. The town was part of Smithfield,

until it was incorporated as North Smithfield in 1871. The first colonization occurred after a Native American, " William Minnian" (also known as " Quashawannamut") a

Praying Indian Praying Indian is a 17th-century term referring to Native Americans of New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Ver ...

from Punkkupage Massachusetts Bay, on May 14, 1666, and again in 1669 with the permission of King Philip, deeded approximately 2,000 acres" to John Mowry and Edward Inman who partnered with Nathaniel Mowry, John Steere, and Thomas Walling in dividing up the purchased tract. During

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 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

in 1676 Connecticut militia forces killed the last Narragansett sachem, Queen Quaiapen, and Stonewall John in Mattity Swamp in what is now North Smithfield in the Second Battle of Nipsachuck. In the early 18th century, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

colony developed in what is now North Smithfield (then Smithfield), which extended into south

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Today North Smithfield is part of the John H. Chaffee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. The

Blackstone Valley The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major factor in the American Industrial Revolution. It makes up part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Natio ...

is the oldest

industrialized Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for the ...

region in the U.S. A local North Smithfield industry today, Berroco Yarns, is a continuation of an original family owned woolen company first established in this valley by Daniel Day in 1809. The village of Slatersville was largely built by

Samuel Slater Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", a phrase coined by Andrew Jackson, and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the ...

and his brother John Slater beginning in 1803. It is a well-preserved original New England mill village with worker housing and commercial buildings and a church on a

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

. This village is in fact America's first planned industrial mill village. Samuel and John's family owned this mill and the village until the turn of the 20th century. Union Village, along Rhode Island Route 146A achieved local prominence as an important stagecoach stop on the route along Great Road. Union Village was also home to a hat shop, taverns, an academy and the Union Bank from which the village got its name. The North Smithfield Public Library was founded in 1931 with the first branch in the Union Village school. In 1965 Fogarty Hospital was constructed in the town. In the nineteenth and early twentieth-century, North Smithfield "was served by several trolley and

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

lines; now all are gone save one. A freight-only spur line of the

Providence and Worcester Railroad The Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W; ) is a Class II railroad operating of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York (state), New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build ...

extends from the main line in Woonsocket and terminates n Slatersvilleat the Providence Pike" where it "primarily serves a single customer, a steel supplier called Denman and Davis," a company in Slatersville which is now part of O’Neal Steel, Inc. File:Mowry House ca. 1690 on Providence Pike in North Smithfield, Rhode Island.jpg, Mowry House , on Providence Pike in North Smithfield File:North Smithfield.JPG, Albert Mowry farmhouse in North Smithfield in the 19th century File:Rustic Drive In Movie Theater in North Smithfield Rhode Island.jpg, Rustic Drive In Movie Theater (1951) in North Smithfield, the last drive in surviving in the state

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 12,588 people and 5,044 households in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 5,358 housing units in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 91.27%

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 ...

, 1.20%

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 ...

, 0.07% Native American, 1.33% Asian, 1.70% from other races, and 4.40% 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 people of any race were 4.24% of the population. In 2000, 41% reported either French or French Canadian ancestry, 12% Irish, 12% Italian, and 8% English. There were 5,044 households, out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% 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, 22.8% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 16.0% had a male householder with no spouse present. 12.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.07. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.0% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 30.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.7 years. The median income for a household in the town was $107,813, and the median income for a family was $138,716. 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 $54,094. About 5.2% 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 4.7% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Historic places in North Smithfield

* Second Battle of Nipsachuck Battlefield, site of 1676 battle during

* Slatersville, America's first industrial mill village, established by John Slater and

in 1807 * Smithfield Friends Meeting House, Parsonage & Cemetery, 18th-19th-century

community * Peleg Arnold Tavern (1690) *

National Heritage Corridor * Forestdale Mill Village Historic District * Tyler Mowry House (1825) * William Mowry House (1804) * Smithfield Road Historic District * Three Dog Site, RI-151 * Todd Farm (1740) * Union Village Historic District

Notable people

Judge Peleg Arnold by Arnold Steere 1815

* Peleg Arnold, delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

(1787–1788); Chief Justice of the

Rhode Island Supreme Court The Rhode Island Supreme Court is the Supreme court, court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, all selected by the Governor of Rhode Island from candidates vetted by ...

(1795–1812) * Ella Maria Ballou, essayist, stenographer * Emeline S. Burlingame, evangelist and suffragist * Joe Connolly, outfielder for the

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

(1913–1916) * Henry Hobbs, football player and coach * Jeff Jillson, international hockey defensman * Tim McNamara, Boston Braves and New York Giants pitcher (1922–1926); died in North Smithfield * Joseph O'Donnell Jr., Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island * David Rawlings, musician; guitarist with wife Gillian Welch * John Slater, industrialist, founder of Slatersville * John Fox Slater, businessman, philanthropist, abolitionist, supporter of freed slaves * R. E. Streeter, Christian writer; founder of the Pastoral Bible Institute in 1918

Education

North Smithfield Middle School 2017 Rhode Island

The North Smithfield School District consists of four active schools: * North Smithfield High School, the only public high school in the town, was ranked 5th out of 51 public high schools in Rhode Island in 2016. * North Smithfield Elementary School was built in 1989 and is now used for preschool-fourth grade. * North Smithfield Middle School was built for the 2008–2009 school year and now holds grades 5–8. * Dr. Harry L. Halliwell School was built in 1958, and used for grades 3–5. The school was decommissioned in the summer of 2019. Before it became a school, it was a sheep farm. *The Kendall Dean School was built in 1936 but is no longer used as a school. It is currently being used as an administrative building for the town. Slatersville Common and Church

Houses of worship

* Lighthouse Christian Church * Masjid Al-Islam mosque * Slatersville Congregational Church * St. John the Evangelist Church

References

External links

Town of North Smithield official website
*
The Church on the Green at Slatersville, long a Buxton Church
{{authority control Towns in Providence County, Rhode Island Providence metropolitan area Towns in Rhode Island 1666 establishments in Rhode Island