The largest plurality of people (21% of the town) was between the ages of 60–69. The median age in town was 58 years, considerably older than Rhode Island as a whole (40 years). More than half (59%) had earned a bachelor's degree or higher, which was 1.5 times greater than the rate of Rhode Island (34%). In 2021, 98% of residents were White, 2% were Hispanic or Latino. The population density of Little Compton was 175 people per square mile, which classifies as rural. Of the 2,444 housing units in Little Compton in 2021, only 65% were reported as occupied, leaving 855 units (35%) vacant for seasonal use only. In 2021, there were 3,600 people in 1,592 households. Town Hall (right) and the former schoolhouse which is now connected to it are part of the Little Compton Common Historic District, Historical population Census The largest of the four batteries was Battery Gray with two 16-inch guns, an area that became the Sakonnet Golf Club. Built as a water tower, local lore claims that it was constructed to obscure the sightlines of a rival abutting neighbor.įort Church was built near Sakonnet Point during World War II and was named for Benjamin Church. Īnother distinctive feature of the town is the c.1905 " Spite Tower" found in the hamlet of Adamsville. The entire common is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district. The stones in the cemetery reflect a style of carving similar to that found both in Newport and Boston during the same time period. Benjamin Church and his family are buried in the cemetery, as is Elizabeth Pabodie, the eldest daughter of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of Mayflower fame. Land for the common was designated in August 1677 and has been used ever since as both a religious and civic center, the location of churches, a school, the town hall, town library, and other government buildings and civic institutions. Little Compton is home to one of only three town commons surviving in Rhode Island the others are in Bristol and Warren. There are about 57 historic cemeteries in the town. Sites of historic interest in Little Compton include the Wilbor House, built in 1692 by Samuel Wilbore and now the home of the Little Compton Historical Society, the Friends Meeting House and Cemetery, and the William Whalley Homestead. Beginning in the late Victorian era, the town became a destination for summer visitors drawn to its beaches and farms seemingly untouched by modernity, and for its relatively cool, maritime climate. All probate and land records prior to 1746 are kept in Taunton and New Bedford, Massachusetts. Setting them off from the area of Old Dartmouth. A Royal commission changed the state border in 1747, and Little Compton along with Tiverton and Bristol became part of Rhode Island. After the "Old Colony" was merged into the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north, a local colonial representative to the General Court in Boston boasted that all the stone walls in Little Compton would stretch to the State House and back, if laid end to end. In 1682, Sakonnet was incorporated by the Plymouth Colony and was renamed Little Compton, probably in reference to Cullompton, Devon, England. Wilbor House, built in 1692, is now the headquarters of the Little Compton Historical Society and a museum Today, a plaque marks the location on West Main Road. In 1675, Church built a house in Little Compton, just prior to King Philip's War. Among the 29 original proprietors was Colonel Benjamin Church, who would become well known for his role in the late 17th-century conflicts with surrounding Indian tribes, initially the Wampanoags and later, the Narragansetts. With her acquiescence, the new settlers divided the land into standard-sized lots for farms. The ruler of the Native Americans was a female sachem named Awashonks who was friendly to the newcomers and remained so during and after King Phillip's War. The first European settlers were from Duxbury, Massachusetts in the Plymouth Colony, which granted them their charter. The name has been interpreted in a variety of ways including "where the water pours forth". Little Compton was originally inhabited by the Sakonnet Indians and their settlement was called Sakonnet or Saughonet. The population was 3,616 at the 2020 census. Little Compton is a coastal town in Newport County, Rhode Island, bounded on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Sakonnet River, on the north by the town of Tiverton, and on the east by the town of Westport, Massachusetts.
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