Rhode Island State...
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Rhode Island Counties
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Washington County, Rhode Island
Washington County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Wakefield
Year Organized: 1729
Square Miles: 333 |
Court House: County Courthouse
4800 Tower Hill Road
Wakefield, RI 02879-2239
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Renamed for first American President George Washington and was formerly named King's Province, after
King Charles II of England. (It is usually called South County by Rhode Islanders.)
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Washington County Has No Form Of County Government.
Parent County: Newport
Washington County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Washington County
borders Kent County to the north, New London County in Connecticut to the west, Suffolk County in New York to the
southwest and Newport County, Rhode Island to the east.
Originally named King's County and changed to its present name in 1781, the county is usually known within the state as
South County.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 563 square miles (1,458 kmē), of which, 333
square miles (862 kmē) of it is land and 230 square miles (596 kmē) of it (40.87%) is water.
Refuse scattered around Washington County's highest pointThe county's topography ranges from flat along the
shoreline to gently rolling hills further inland. The highest point is a large area approximately 560 feet (171 m)
in the Exeter neighborhood of Black Plain; the lowest point is sea level along the coast.
Neighboring Counties:
- Kent County: north
- New London County in Connecticut: west
- Suffolk County in New York: southwest
- Newport County, Rhode Island: east
Cities and Towns:
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- Charlestown |
town |
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- Exeter |
town |
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- Hopkinton |
town |
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- Narragansett |
town |
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- New Shoreham |
town |
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- North Kingstown |
town |
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- Richmond |
town |
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- South Kingstown |
town |
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- Wakefield
(County
Seat) |
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- Westerly |
town |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
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Penn Foster High School
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