Burrillville was incorporated in 1806 and is a rural town located in the northwest corner of Rhode Island, bordered by Massachusetts and by Connecticut. Burrillville is approximately twenty miles from Providence, Rhode Island; 45 miles from Boston, Massachusetts; and 190 miles from New York City. The town has a land area of 57.3 square miles, and a population of approximately 15,796 people based on a 2000 census.
The Town of Burrillville was originally annexed from the town of Glocester and is named for James Burrill Jr., who while serving as State Attorney General, assisted in establishing the town.
Burrillville grew quickly, its economy driven by a textile industry until the 1950's when the textile industry in the Northeast began to move south. It was the mills that led to the development of the Town's numerous villages.
Village Centers are located throughout Burrillville. These villages were created around the original mill complexes and most residents still identify their neighborhood by the original mill village name. So, if you hear our residents refer to themselves as hailing from Harrisville, Pascoag, Oakland, Mapleville, Glendale, Mohegan, Wallum Lake, Bridgeton or Nasonville, its our tradition, but we are all still residents of Burrillville.
The Town of Burrillville is a municipal corporation operating under the General Laws of Rhode Island. The Town operates with a Town Manager/Town Council form of government with seven elected council members headed by a council president. The Burrillville School District is directed by a seven member School Committee. The Town has three elementary schools, a middle school and one high school.
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Burrilville was probably first settled sometime around 1662, when the first Europeans began to settle the Nipmuc lands.[4] The Town was originally a part of Glocester, Rhode Island. [4] John Smith and members of the Saulsbury family were among the earliest settlers.[4] In 1806, The Town of Burrillville became a separate town and consisted of 60 square miles (160 km2) of land in the northwest corner of Rhode Island, bordering Connecticut and Massachusetts.[4] Later Boundary disputes with Massachusetts and Glocester reduced this land area by the mid 19th century.[4] Joktan Putnam was the first Town moderator. [4] The Nipmuc word for snake was rendered "askug" by Roger Williams in his Key Into the Language of North America, and "askoog" by the Reverend John Eliot in his Algonqian translation of the Bible. Burrillville's principal village, Pascoag, named after the stream upon which it is located, probably derives from this Algonqian root. Gradually in the early to mid 1800's, the various mills and villages took shape such as Harris mills, and the village of Harrisville, Mapleville mills, Oakland mills etc.[4] Buck Hill was known for a colorful band of counterfeiters. [4] The town is today part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, New England's, historic National Park area.
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