Cumberland, Rhode Island
| Cumberland, Rhode Island | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
Cumberland Town Hall
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| Motto: Great History. Bright Future | |
 Location in Providence County and the state of Rhode Island. |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Rhode Island |
| County | Providence |
| Settled | 1635 |
| Incorporated | 1746 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | William S. Murray (D) 2015 - Current |
| • Town Council | E. Craig Dwyer (D) Peter J. Bradley (D) Arthur Lambi, Jr. (R) Joshua R. Call-Fregeau (D) James E. Scullin (D) Scott R. Schmitt (R) Robert G. Shaw, Jr. (D) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 28.3 sq mi (73.2 km2) |
| • Land | 26.4 sq mi (68.5 km2) |
| • Water | 1.8 sq mi (4.7 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 33,512 |
| • Density | 1,200/sq mi (460/km2) |
| ZIP code | 02864 |
| Area code(s) | 401 |
| FIPS code | 44-20080 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1220068 |
| Website | www |
Cumberland is the northeasternmost town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 33,506 at the 2010 census.
Cumberland was originally settled as part of Wrentham, Massachusetts, which was purchased from the local Indigenous Americans by the Plymouth Colony. It was later transferred to Rhode Island as part of a long-running boundary dispute. The town was named in honor of Prince William, Duke of Cumberland.
William Blackstone (also spelled William Blaxton in colonial times) was the first European to settle and live in Cumberland. (He was also the first European to have settled in Boston, but left when he and the newly arrived Puritans disagreed about religion.) He preached his brand of tolerant Christianity under an oak tree that became an inspiration to Christians worldwide. He lived on a farm in the Lonsdale area of Cumberland, where he cultivated the first variety of American apples, the Yellow Sweeting. The site of his home is now occupied by the Ann & Hope mill.
The popular tourist destination "Nine Men's Misery" is a tomb found on the grounds of a former Trappist monastery (Abbey of Our Lady of the Valley), part of which was destroyed in a fire in 1950. The Trappists sold the monastery and grounds to the town and part of the building was converted into the Edward J. Hayden Library, aka Cumberland Public Library in 1976. This combined three smaller libraries into one.
Cumberland was the site of iron works that made cannons and cannonballs for the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. Additionally, Cumberland (along with the neighboring towns of Central Falls, RI, Lincoln, RI, and Attleboro, Massachusetts) was the home of the Valley Falls Company, which is the original antecedent of Berkshire Hathaway, now one of the world's largest and most successful companies.
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