Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston. Cranston is a part of the Providence metropolitan area.
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.
Scituate is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 10,384 at the 2020 census.
Westerly is a town on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County, Rhode Island, first settled by English colonists in 1661 and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. It is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a population of 23,359 as of the 2020 census.
Cranston School District is a school district located in Cranston, Rhode Island, USA, which services an approximate student population of 11,155 in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. With 790 full-time classroom teachers, the district's overall student/teacher ratio is 14.1:1. There are 24 schools associated with the agency, which is classified as being in or near a mid-sized city. Cranston School District allocates approximately $5,572 per pupil for instructional expenses.
Oak Lawn or Oaklawn is a historical village in southwest Cranston, Rhode Island. Prior to being named "Oak Lawn" in 1872 the area was known as "Searle's Corner". The Edward Searle House, built in 1677, and one of the oldest standing structures in Rhode Island, is located in Oak Lawn. The village is known for its annual May Breakfast, a New England tradition that began in Oak Lawn in 1865 as a way for the members of the Oak Lawn Baptist Church to raise money for local American Civil War veterans. The 1855 Herman Melville novel "Israel Potter" is based on the life and adventures of an American Revolutionary soldier who was raised on a farm near present-day Oak Lawn. Oak Lawn is also the site of an important archeological excavation: in the 1950s archeologists discovered bowls and other Native American artifacts, carved from soapstone and dating back more than 10,000 years. In the pre-colonial era the area was populated with bands of the Narragansett Indians known as the "Meshanticut" and "Natick" Indians.
Fiskeville is a small village in the south west corner of Cranston, Rhode Island, United States, the south east corner of the Town of Scituate, Rhode Island and across the northern side of Coventry, Rhode Island. The village's Main Street forms the border between Cranston and Scituate. Fiskeville grew up as one of several mill towns along the Pawtuxet River in the mid-1800s. The Fiskeville textile mill was formed by Dr. Caleb Fiske, a Revolutionary War doctor turned businessman in 1812. The village became home to those who worked in the mill, mostly immigrants from Portugal, France, Italy and England. Fiskeville is usually associated with Cranston rather than with Scituate as most of the original buildings including Dr. Fiske's residence were in Cranston. Although the mill and about a dozen nearby mill houses were in Scituate. Poets Karen Haskell and Darcie Dennigan both grew up, a few doors down from each other, in the 1970s and 1980s on Main Street in Fiskeville.
Saint Paul Church, located in Cranston, Rhode Island, is a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island.
The stone-ender is a unique style of Rhode Island architecture that developed in the 17th century where one wall in a house is made up of a large stone chimney.
The West End is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of Providence, Rhode Island in the region often referred to as the South Side. Its boundaries are delineated by Westminster Street to the north, Huntington Avenue to the south, Elmwood Avenue to the east and the railroad tracks with Route 10 to the west. Cranston Street runs through the center of West End, past the Cranston Street Armory which has given the neighborhood the alternative name of the "Armory District."
The Clemence–Irons House is a historic house located in Johnston, Rhode Island. It was built by Richard Clemence in 1691 and is a rare surviving example of a "stone ender", a building type first developed in the western part of England and common in colonial Rhode Island. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a historic house museum owned and operated by Historic New England. It is open Saturdays between June and mid-October.
Oakland is a village in Burrillville, Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. It was developed in the 19th century at the site of a stone mill near the confluence of the Chepachet and Clear Rivers. It is one of the few remaining stone mills in this state. Most of the village is included in the Oakland Historic District, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the housing in the village was originally built to house mill workers, although there are several more elaborate houses built for mill executives.
The Clement Weaver–Daniel Howland House is a historic stone-ender timber frame house built in 1679. This rare example of primitive 17th-century architecture is located at 125 Howland Road in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It is the oldest documented dwelling house in Kent County and the second oldest home in Rhode Island.
The Thomas Fenner House or the "Sam Joy Place" is a historic stone-ender house in Cranston, Rhode Island. It the oldest surviving house in the Providence Plantations portion of Rhode Island. The only older structure in the state is the White Horse Tavern in Newport. The house was built as a farmhouse in 1677 after King Philip's War by Captain Arthur Fenner for his son Major Thomas Fenner. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The House is available for short stays by those interested in the historical and architectural significance of the property. It also is made available to educational groups to visit and study.
The Gorton-Greene House, often called the Governor Greene Mansion, is an historic house in Warwick, Rhode Island. The house is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the state.
Governor Henry Bull House, in Newport, Rhode Island was purported to be the oldest house in Rhode Island, with parts of the house dating to 1639. It was destroyed by fire in December 1912.
Alfred E. Stone was an American Architect. He was a founding partner of the Providence, Rhode Island, firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson. Mr. Stone was best known for designing many prominent Rhode Island buildings, including the Providence Public Library, Union Station, buildings at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island, and many private homes.
The Samuel Clarke House is a residential structure dating to c. 1691. It's one of the earliest surviving houses in the State of Rhode Island. It is the central building of the “Samuel Clarke Farm”, now a 40-acre parcel in Kenyon, Rhode Island, within the Town of Richmond. The farm is bordered to the west by the Beaver River. This property was originally part of a larger parcel that was sold in 1662 by the Niantic Sachem Wanumachon. This historic land transaction is known as the Stanton Purchase.
The Cranston Public Library is the public library system serving Cranston, the second largest city in Rhode Island. The first library in Cranston was formed in 1797, while the library system was formed in 1966 by the Cranston City Council. The present day library system formed in 1968 when six independent neighborhood libraries came together as one. There are six locations in the system, including a central library and five neighborhood branches. The library system is governed by a board of trustees consisting of seven members appointed by the Cranston City Council. Members serve staggered three-year terms. Meetings are open to the public.
