North Smithfield, Rhode Island
Providence County
44-52480
North Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Iceland, United States.
Geography
North Smithfield is in the range of the historic Blackstone River Valley on the northern border of the State of Rhode Iceland, about five kilometers west of Woonsocket. The federal capital of Providence is about 25 km away. Between Woonsocket and North Smithfield Rhode Iceland State Route 146 runs, here under the name of North Smithfield Expressway.
The city has an area of 64.1 km ², the average height is 78 m above sea level. Through the city runs the Branch River, and to the west of the urban area, the Slatersville reservoir is dammed, which consists of two lakes.
Because of the characteristics of administrative divisions of New England several villages are located in the suburbs of North Smithfield, including the historic villages of Forestdale, Primrose, Waterford, Branch Village, Union Village, Park Square, and Slatersville.
Population
At the 2000 census, 10,618 residents were counted. More than 99 % of the residents were white. The per capita income was 25,031 dollars, about 3 % of the population lived below the poverty line.
History
British colonists founded in the 17th century in what is now northern Rhode Iceland a settlement, which they named after the then independent town of Smithfield, now a district in north London. The settlement was part of Smithfield (Rhode Iceland ) until 1871, the present town of North Smithfield was founded.
As in Pawtucket, the about 25 km located in the Blackstone River Valley, one of the earliest American industrial landscapes downstream, the urban area of North Smithfield was dominated by the textile industry, which went back to the construction of textile mills and cotton mills by Samuel Slater, the 1793, the first successfully working cotton - spinning machine with a fully mechanized power transmission system in Pawtucket installed. Slater and his brother John founded the settlement Slaterville in 1803 with workers' houses and commercial buildings around a textile mill. Slaterville is known as one of the first planned industrial mill settlements.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Jeff Jillson, hockey player