North Smithfield, Rhode Island

Coordinates: 41°58′00″N 71°32′58″W / 41.96667°N 71.54944°W / 41.96667; -71.54944
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

North Smithfield, Rhode Island
Town
Forestdale school house from the nineteenth century
Forestdale school house from the nineteenth century
FIPS code
44-52480[2]
GNIS feature ID1219815[1]
Websitewww.nsmithfieldri.org

North Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, 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, 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 town has a total area of 24.7 square miles (64 km2), of which 24.0 square miles (62 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (2.83%) is water. North Smithfield is in a New England upland region. The Branch River and Blackstone Rivers provided much of the power for the early mills in the town. The town consists mainly of temperate forests, with minor elevation changes. At 586 ft (179 m), 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

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

Today North Smithfield is part of the

industrialized 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.

North Smithfield, demolished in the 20th century

The village of Slatersville was largely built by Samuel Slater and his brother John Slater beginning in 1803.[6] It is a well-preserved original New England mill village with worker housing and commercial buildings and a church on a village green. This village is in fact America's first planned industrial mill village.[7] Samuel and John's family owned this mill and the village until the turn of the 20th century.[6]

Fogarty Hospital
was constructed in the town.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth-century, North Smithfield "was served by several

Providence Pike"[8] where it "primarily serves a single customer, a steel supplier called Denman and Davis,"[9] a company in Slatersville which is now part of O’Neal Steel, Inc.[10]

  • Mowry House c. 1690, on Providence Pike in North Smithfield
    Mowry House c. 1690, on Providence Pike in North Smithfield
  • Albert Mowry farmhouse in North Smithfield in the 19th century
    Albert Mowry farmhouse in North Smithfield in the 19th century
  • Rustic Drive In Movie Theater (1951) in North Smithfield, the last drive in surviving in the state
    Rustic Drive In Movie Theater (1951) in North Smithfield, the last drive in surviving in the state

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18703,052—
18803,0881.2%
18903,1732.8%
19002,422−23.7%
19102,69911.4%
19203,20018.6%
19303,94523.3%
19404,1966.4%
19505,72636.5%
19607,63233.3%
19709,34922.5%
19809,9726.7%
199010,4975.3%
200010,6181.2%
201011,96712.7%
202012,5885.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[11][12]

As of the

Latino people of any race were 0.47% of the population. 41% reported either French or French Canadian ancestry, 12% Irish, 12% Italian, and 8% English.[13]

Masjid Al Islam mosque on Sayles Hill Road in North Smithfield

There were 3,954 households, out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.0% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.2% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.4% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $58,602, and the median income for a family was $67,331. Males had a median income of $43,133 versus $30,748 for females. The

poverty line
, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Historic places in North Smithfield

The Peleg Arnold Tavern, built around 1690, was home to Peleg Arnold.

Notable people

Chief Justice Peleg Arnold was a resident of Union Village in North Smithfield.

Education

North Smithfield Middle School
, opened in 2008–2009

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.[18]
  • 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 Green and the Congregational Church

Houses of worship

  • Lighthouse Christian Church[19]
  • Masjid Al-Islam mosque[20]
  • Slatersville Congregational Church[21]
  • St. John the Evangelist Church[22]

References

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Smithfield, Rhode Island
  2. ^ a b "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c Nebiker, Walter (1976). the History of North Smithfield. Somersworth, NH: New England History Press.
  4. ^ The Narragansett Historical Register: A Magazine Devoted to the Antiquities, Genealogy and Historical Matter Illustrating the History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Narragansett Historical Publishing Company. 1888.
  5. ^ The Providence Plantations for Two Hundred and Fifty Years: An Historical ...By Welcome Arnold Greene, pg 394
  6. ^ a b "Samuel Slater/The Mill Village, Slatersville/Woonsocket". Woonsocket.org. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  7. ^ a b c "Plan your visit/Valley sites/Cumberland, North Smithfield, Smithfield". National Park Service. Retrieved December 25, 2007.
  8. ^ North Smithfield Comprehensive Plan Five-Year Update Revised August 2007 J - Circulation –March 2006 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 1, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Frank Heppner, Railroads of Rhode Island: Shaping the Ocean State's Railways (The History Press, 2012) pg. 81
  10. ^ "121-Year-Old Metals Service Center Gets New Identity » O'Neal Industries". onealind.com. September 2, 2010. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  11. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  12. ^ Snow, Edwin M. (1867). Report upon the Census of Rhode Island 1865. Providence, RI: Providence Press Company.
  13. ^ "North Smithfield - North Smithfield - Ancestry & family history - ePodunk". www.epodunk.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  14. ^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  15. ^ "RootsWeb.com Home Page". www.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  16. ^ "Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased during the Year 1930-1931" (PDF). Bulletin of Yale University. December 1, 1931.
  17. ^ Wilkinson, Alec (September 20, 2004). "The Ghostly Ones". The New Yorker. p. 78. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  18. ^ "Ranking of High Schools in Rhode Island". www.psk12.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  19. ^ "Lighthouse Christian Church - North Smithfield, RI". www.lfwc.org. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  20. ^ Masjid Al-Islam mosque Archived 2011-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "Home". Slatersville Congregational Church-UCC. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  22. ^ "ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, SLATERSVILLE RI". www.stjohnslatersville.4lpi.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2018.

External links

41°58′00″N 71°32′58″W / 41.96667°N 71.54944°W / 41.96667; -71.54944

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