Warren, Rhode Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 11,360 at the 2000 census.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.4 km² (8.6 mi²). 15.9 km² (6.2 mi²) of it is land and 6.5 km² (2.5 mi²) of it (28.90%) is water.
[edit] History
The town was named after a British naval hero, Admiral Sir Peter Warren.
Warren was the original site of the Indian village of Sowams and the home of Wampanoag Sachem Massasoit. As early as 1632, a trading post was established at Sowams by the Plymouth settlers.
In 1636, Roger Williams, banished from Salem, fled to Sowams where he was sheltered by Massasoit until he settled at Providence. After the death of Massasoit, relations between the Indians and the settlers became strained, leading to King Philip's War in 1638.
In the mid 1700s the town was well known as a whaling port, and ship-building became an important industry. The Revolutionary War seriously affected Warren's commercial prosperity, and the town suffered British raids in 1778 along with the rest of the region.
Warren was the original home of Brown University, founded in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island. The school registered its first students in 1765. Brown was the Baptist answer to Congregationalist Yale and Harvard, Presbyterian Princeton, and Episcopalian Penn and Columbia. At the time, it was the only one of these schools that welcomed students of all religious persuasions (following the example of Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island in 1636 on the same principle). Within the decade after the Revolution commerce revived, and until the middle of the 19th century, Warren was famous for the fine vessels launched from its yards. These vessels, largely commanded by Warren men and operated by Warren crews, engaged in whaling, merchant service, and the West India trade.
With the decline of the whaling industry and related seafaring commerce toward the middle of the 19th century, business attention turned to textile manufacturing. Warren's first cotton mill was erected by the Warren Manufacturing Company in 1847. Further mills and factories developed during and after the Civil War, attracting an immigrant work force.
Presently Warren is home to several waterfront businesses such as Blount Marine, Blount Seafood, Anchorage Inc. (Dyer Boats), etc.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 11,360 people, 4,708 households, and 2,994 families residing in the town. The population density was 713.2/km² (1,845.8/mi²). There were 4,977 housing units at an average density of 312.5/km² (808.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.82% White, 0.83% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.93% of the population.
There were 4,708 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the town the population was spread out with 21.6% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $41,285, and the median income for a family was $52,824. Males had a median income of $35,472 versus $27,023 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,448. About 5.2% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.
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