Thornton (formerly known as Simmonsville and Lower Simmons Village) is a neighborhood located in the north-west part of

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, Rhode Island. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The cente ...

on the Johnston line and extends into the Johnston side. Many of the residents of this Thornton are

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan area ...

, and the Feast of

Saint Rocco Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked ...

, a Christian saint, is held every August on the grounds of St. Rocco's Church and remains an important cultural event in the community. Saint Rocco's Church was formerly on the Cranston side of Thornton on Clemence Street until the new church opened in 1951 on Atwood Avenue on the Johnston side of Thornton.Rhode Island's Mill Villages: Simmonsville, Pocasset, Olneyville, and Thornton by Joe Fuoco (Arcadia Publishing, Mar 1, 1997)

References

External links

* The life of Elder Abel Thornton: late of Johnston, R.I. A preacher in the Free-Will Baptist Connexion, and a member of the R.I.Q. meeting (Google eBook) (182

Italian-American culture in Rhode Island Neighborhoods in Rhode Island Populated places in Providence County, Rhode Island Cranston, Rhode Island Johnston, Rhode Island {{RhodeIsland-geo-stub