Smithfield is a town in
Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,118 at the
2020 census. Incorporated in 1731, it includes the historic villages of
Esmond,
Georgiaville,
Mountaindale, Spragueville, Stillwater, and
Greenville. Smithfield is home to
Bryant University, a private, four-year university.
History
The area comprising modern-day Smithfield was first settled in 1663 as a farming community by several
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, including
John Steere. The area was originally within the boundaries of
Providence until it was incorporated as a separate municipality by the General Assembly in February 1731. The first town meeting was held on March 17, 1731 at the home of Captain Richard Whitman located in modern-day
Lincoln. Richard Sayles was elected as the first town clerk. John Arnold, Captain Joseph Mowry, Thomas Steere, John Mowry, Sam Aldrich and Benjamin Smith were elected as the first members of the town council.
According to the town's official website, Smithfield was named after
John Smith, a first settler of Providence, who was granted land by
Roger Williams
Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...
and was one of the original party of six men that formed original settlement of Providence Plantations.
Chief Justice
Peleg Arnold lived in early Smithfield, and his 1690 home still stands today. Through the early 18th century, Smithfield was home to an active
Quaker community that extended along Great Road, from what is today Woonsocket, north into
Uxbridge, Massachusetts. This Quaker community became influential in the
abolition movement, with members such as
Effingham Capron and
Abby Kelley Foster, and also gave rise to other Quaker settlements including one at
Adams, Massachusetts
Adams is a town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,166 at the 2020 census.
History
Nathan Jones purchased the township of ...
, where
Susan B. Anthony was born as an early member.
Elizabeth Buffum Chace, an abolitionist and figure in the women's rights movement, was born in Smithfield.
During the Industrial Revolution, Smithfield transformed from an agrarian community to a manufacturing center, with several textiles mills being founded along the
Woonasquatucket River. By 1819, there were nine cotton mills in Smithfield. To alleviate difficulties with the mills' water supplies, the Woonasquatucket River Company was granted a charter to construct three reservoirs in town: Slack Reservoir, Upper and Lower Sprague Reservoir, and Waterman Reservoir. With a stable supply of water, by 1876, the number of mills in Smithfield increased to 20.
As early as 1833, movements had begun to advocate for splitting Smithfield into multiple municipalities.
In 1871, the towns of
North Smithfield and
Lincoln were granted charters by the General Assembly to become separate municipalities, and the city of
Central Falls later split from Lincoln in 1895. The colonial ghost town of
Hanton City is located within the boundaries of present-day Smithfield.
In 1943, a
U.S. Army Air Corps Lockheed RB-34 crashed on Wolf Hill, killing all three servicemen aboard.
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 is water. The total area is 4.25% water.
Demographics
As of the
2020 United States Census, Smithfield has 22,118 residents and 7,797 households in the town. The population density was . The racial makeup as of 2020 was 84.77%
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 ...
, 1.25%
African Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
, 0.24%
Native American, 7.51%
Asian, 1.89% from other races and 4.33% of 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 ...
and
Latino of any race made up 3.73% of the population.
There were 7,797 households, out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% were married couples living together, 24.6% had a female householder with no spouse present and 12.9% had a male householder with no spouse present. 11.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 people and the average family size was 2.97.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 16.4% of the population under the age of 18, 18.1% from 18-24, 17.7% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.7 years.
The median income for a household in the town was $101,653, and the median income for a family was $133,639. The per capita income for the town was $45,943. About 4.2% of the population live 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 0.5% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Smithfield contains three public elementary schools (Pleasant View, Raymond LaPerche, and Old County Road School), a middle school (Vincent J. Gallagher Middle School) and a public high school,
Smithfield High School which was ranked 17th out of 52 high schools in Rhode Island in 2006. St. Phillip's School, a private Roman Catholic academy offering education in grades K–8, is situated in Greenville. Mater Ecclesiae College, a Catholic college, was also located in the town in a facility that was formerly the St. Aloysius Orphanage until the college closed in 2015. Partnered with Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, the private Catholic boarding school Overbrook Academy currently resides those same facilities for middle school, high school, and summer camp programs.
Bryant University
Bryant University, a private university with programs in business and the arts and sciences, is located in Smithfield.
In 1971, the university moved to its current campus in Smithfield when the founder of
Tupperware,
Earl Silas Tupper, a Bryant alumnus, donated the current of land to be the new campus. The famous Bryant Archway was also relocated. The old Emin Homestead and Captain Joseph Mowry homestead occupied much of the land that makes up the present day Smithfield campus. The land was purchased and farmed for three generations between the late 19th century and the mid-20th century. Today, many descendants of the original Emin settlers still live near the Bryant campus. The school also claims a handful of family members as alumni and offers a scholarship for accounting students as a tribute to the Emin family. Historical pictures of the Emin Homestead can still be found in the Alumni house.
Economy
Principal employers
According to Smithfield's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the principal employers in the city are:
Notable people
*
Cyrus Aldrich (1808–1871), born in Smithfield,
United States Congressman from
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
*
Peleg Arnold (1751–1820), 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 ...
*
Sullivan Ballou (1829–1861), Civil War Officer and author of the Sullivan Ballou Letter
*
Emeline S. Burlingame (1836–1923), editor and evangelist
*
Adin B. Capron (1841–1911),
United States Congressman
*
Elizabeth Buffum Chace (1806–1899), activist in the Anti-Slavery, Women's Rights, and Prison Reform Movements of the mid to late 19th century
*
Edward Harris, (1801–1872), manufacturer, philanthropist, and abolitionist
*
Ronald K. Machtley (born 1948),
United States Congressman, President of
Bryant University (1996–2020)
*
Daniel Mowry Jr. (1729–1806), delegate to the Continental Congress
*
James W. Nuttall (born 1953),
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
Major General, deputy director of the
Army National Guard
The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...
and Deputy Commander of the
First Army
*
Gina Raimondo (born 1971),
United States Secretary of Commerce (2021–2025), 75th
Governor of Rhode Island (2015–2021)
*
Danny Smith (born 1959), producer, writer, and voice actor
*
William Stillman Stanley Jr., politician
*
Arthur Steere (1865–1943), politician, businessman
*
Alexander Warner (1827–1914), businessman and politician
*
David Wilkinson (1771–1852), co-builder of
Slater Mill
*
William Winsor, education philanthropist, namesake of the
William Winsor School
Friendship cities
*
Stepanakert
Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...
, Artsakh (2023)
See also
*
References
External links
Smithfield official website
{{authority control
Towns in Providence County, Rhode Island
Providence metropolitan area
Towns in Rhode Island