Newport County, Rhode Island
Encyclopedia
National protected areas
- Sachuest Point National Wildlife RefugeSachuest Point National Wildlife RefugeOccupying a peninsula between the Sakonnet River and Rhode Island Sound, the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge is a very popular site for the over 65,000 annual visitors each year...
- Touro Synagogue National Historic Site
History
Newport County was constituted on June 22, 1703, as one of the two original counties of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. As originally established, Newport County consisted of four towns: Portsmouth, Newport, Jamestown, and New Shoreham. In 1746-47, two towns, Little Compton and Tiverton, were acquired from MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. In 1856, the town of Fall River
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
was split off from Tiverton but was ceded to Massachusetts six years later in 1862 as part of the settlement of the boundary dispute between Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In 1963, the town of New Shoreham was transferred to Washington County. County government was abolished in Rhode Island in 1842 and today remains only for the purpose of delineating judicial administrative boundaries.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 85,433 people, 35,228 households, and 22,228 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 821 people per square mile (317/km²). There were 39,561 housing units at an average density of 380 per square mile (147/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.46% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 3.73% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.43% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.23% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.07% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 1.09% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.99% from two or more races. 2.82% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race. 19.6% were of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, 13.2% Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
, 11.8% English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, 9.2% Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, 6.3% German and 5.2% French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
ancestry according to Census 2000. 92.0% spoke English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, 2.3% Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, 2.1% Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and 1.3% French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as their first language.
There were 35,228 households out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.90% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.90% were non-families. 29.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the county, the population was spread out with 22.50% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $50,448, and the median income for a family was $60,610. Males had a median income of $41,630 versus $29,241 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the county was $26,779. About 5.40% of families and 7.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.00% of those under age 18 and 6.70% of those age 65 or over.
Cities, towns, and villages*
- JamestownJamestown, Rhode IslandJamestown is a town located in Newport County, Rhode Island, in the United States. The population was 5,405 at the 2010 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay.-History:...
- Beavertail (a village of Jamestown)
- Cedar Point (a village of Jamestown)
- Conanicut (a village of Jamestown)
- Dutch Island (a village of Jamestown)
- Freebody Hill (a village of Jamestown)
- Little ComptonLittle Compton, Rhode IslandLittle Compton is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. Its population was 3,492 at the time of the 2010 census. Little Compton is located in southeastern Rhode Island, between the Sakonnet River and the Massachusetts state border...
- Adamsville (a village of Little Compton)
- Briggs Point (a village of Little Compton)
- Sakonnet (a village of Little Compton)
- Tunipus (a village of Little Compton)
- MiddletownMiddletown, Rhode IslandMiddletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,150 at the 2010 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown."-Geography:...
- Easton Point (a village of Middletown)
- Sachuest (a village of Middletown)
- Newport East (a village of Middletown)
- NewportNewport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
- Castle Hill (a village of Newport)
- Coasters Harbor (a village of Newport)
- Coddington Point (a village of Newport)
- Fort Adams (a village of Newport)
- Forty Steps (a village of Newport)
- Goat Island (a village of Newport)
- Ochre Point (a village of Newport)
- Rose Island (a village of Newport)
- Tonomy Hill (a village of Newport)
- PortsmouthPortsmouth, Rhode IslandPortsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,389 at the 2010 U.S. Census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Most of its land area lies on Aquidneck...
- Bristol Ferry (a village of Portsmouth)
- Cedar Island (a village of Portsmouth)
- Common Fence Point (a village of Portsmouth)
- Corey Lane (a village of Portsmouth)
- Despair Island (a village of Portsmouth)
- Dyer Island (a village of Portsmouth)
- Gould Island (a village of Portsmouth)
- Hog Island (a village of Portsmouth)
- Homestead (a village of Portsmouth)
- Hope Island (a village of Portsmouth)
- Hummocks (a village of Portsmouth)
- Island Park (a village of Portsmouth)
- MelvilleMelville, Rhode IslandMelville is a village in the town of Portsmouth in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The village is also the basis of a census-designated place , which extends south along the shore of Narragansett Bay into the town of Middletown to encompass the village of Lawtons and the port...
(a village of Portsmouth) - Patience (a village of Portsmouth)
- Prudence (a village of Portsmouth)
- Quaker Hill (a village of Portsmouth)
- TivertonTiverton (town), Rhode IslandTiverton is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 15,780 at the 2010 census.- Geography :Tiverton is located on the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, across the Sakonnet River from Aquidneck Island...
- Bridgeport (a village of Tiverton)
- Eagleville (a village of Tiverton)
- Fogland Point (a village of Tiverton)
- Grayville (a village of Tiverton)
- Nannaquaket (a village of Tiverton)
- North Tiverton (a village of Tiverton)
- Tiverton Four Corners (a village of Tiverton)