Foster, Rhode Island

Foster is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 4,274.

History

Foster was originally settled in the 1600s by British colonists as a farming community. In the year 1662, William Vaughan, Zachariah Rhodes, and Robert Wescott, purchased of the Indians a large tract of land called West Quanaug, bordering on Providence. The 'West Quanaug purchase', consisted of nearly the whole southern half of the town of Foster. The first settler was allegedly Ezekiel Hopkins. Many settlors from Newport were active in the town in the 1700s. Foster was incorporated with Scituate, Rhode Island in 1730, forming the western section of that township, and remained up to 1781, when it was set off as a distinct and separate township. It derived its name, Foster, from the U.S. Senator Theodore Foster. Mr. Foster presented the town with a library. Some of the books are still preserved, and including one in which was written the early records of the town. U.S. Senator Nelson Aldrich was born in Foster in 1841. In the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan was active in the area, and one of the largest Klan rallies in the state was held in Foster on the Old Home Day grounds in 1924 with 8,000 in attendance and U.S. Senator J. Thomas Heflin of Alabama speaking.[1]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 51.9 square miles (134.3 km²), of which, 51.1 square miles (132.5 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.9 km²) of it (1.41%) is water. Foster contains Rhode Island's highest point, Jerimoth Hill, with an elevation of 248 m (812 ft).

Famous residents

• Theodore Foster — Senator, the town is named after him.
• Solomon Drowne — Physician, author, close friend of Foster. He lived on a farm called Mount Hygeia.
• Nelson Aldrich — U.S. Senator, father of Abby Rockefeller.
• H. P. Lovecraft — author, lived on Johnson rd, the historic house has since burned down.
• Mark Picard — author of the Ultraquest series.

Demographics

Foster's Capt. Isaac Paine Elementary School, has the top spot for reading proficiency according to the New England Common Assessment Program, or NECAP, exams. 82 percent of its students attained proficiency, the state leader in that testing category. As of the census² of 2000, there were 4,274 people, 1,535 households, and 1,198 families residing in the town. The population density was 83.6 people per square mile (32.3/km²). There were 1,578 housing units at an average density of 30.9/sq mi (11.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.26% White, 0.21% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.80% of the population. There were 1,535 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.5% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.9% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.14. In the town the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 28.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $59,673, and the median income for a family was $63,657. Males had a median income of $39,808 versus $30,632 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,148. About 1.5% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

Foster is home to the Foster Town House. Built in 1795 and in use to this day, the Foster Town House is the oldest government meeting house of its type in the USA. Foster also contains one Rhode Island's only two covered bridges, known as the Swamp Meadow Covered Bridge (the other is located on Ponaganset High School's Cross Country Course in North Scituate). Built in 1994, it is a reproduction of an early 19th century specimen. Jerimoth Hill, the highest point of elevation in Rhode Island, is located in Foster. Foster is home to the most scenic part of the North South Trail. Along the trail you can see the remnants of the Thomas O' Wagon Wheel Shop which was later converted to a Shingle Mill in 1919.

References and external links

• Foster History

	•  • e State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Providence (capital)
Topics	Culture | Geography | Government | History | Images | Narragansett Indian Tribe
Regions	Counties: Bristol | Kent | Newport | Providence | Washington (South County) | Geographic: Blackstone Valley | Block Island
Cities	Central Falls | Cranston | East Providence | Newport | Pawtucket | Providence | Warwick | Woonsocket
Towns	Barrington | Bristol | Burrillville | Charlestown | Coventry | Cumberland | East Greenwich | Exeter | Foster | Glocester | Hopkinton | Jamestown | Johnston | Lincoln | Little Compton | Middletown | Narragansett | New Shoreham (Block Island) | North Kingstown | North Providence | North Smithfield | Portsmouth | Richmond | Scituate | Smithfield | South Kingstown | Tiverton | Warren | Westerly | West Greenwich | West Warwick

Coordinates: 41°51′13″N, 71°45′29″W