Charlestown

History

One of the first written records of European contact in Charlestown dates back as early as the 1630s, when Col. John Mason marched to Connecticut to battle the Pequots. In 1660, a private company organized in Newport purchased the land known as Misquamicoke or Misquamicut, the purchased land consisting of the present-day towns of Westerly, Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton, which would later become the Town of Westerly in 1669. Charlestown would be named after King Charles II, separating from Westerly with modern day Richmond and Charlestown, would face debate for periods of time before eventually, it would be incorporated in 1738 as the Town of Charlestown to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. In 1747, the Town of Richmond, following the Pawcatuck River, would be split off from Charlestown and be incorporated as its own separate town. In 1983, the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs would recognize the Narragansett people with the Narragansett Indian Reservation, with a total of 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) of trust lands within Charlestown.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (37.86%) is water. The town is bordered by Westerly on the west; Richmond on the north; and Hopkinton on the northwest; and South Kingstown on the east. The village of Charlestown is in the southeastern part of the town, Quonochontaug is in the southwest, and Carolina is on the northern border of the town. In 2011, Charlestown became the first municipality in the United States to pass a ban on any size or type of electricity-generating wind turbines. The sweeping prohibition applies to large commercial as well as smaller residential turbines.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Chariho High School
  High · Wood River Junction · 1,043 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• Chariho Regional Middle School
  Middle · Wood River Junction · 845 students · 12.1:1 ratio
• South Kingstown High
  High · Wakefield · 789 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Westerly High School
  High · Westerly · 699 students · 9.7:1 ratio
• Westerly Middle School
  Middle · Westerly · 697 students · 11.1:1 ratio
• Narragansett High School
  High · Narragansett · 474 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Curtis Corner Middle School
  Middle · Wakefield · 412 students · 11.4:1 ratio
• Richmond Elementary School
  Elementary · Wyoming · 405 students · 13.5:1 ratio