Wyoming, Rhode Island
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N 41° 30.891 W 071° 41.830
19T E 274928 N 4599425
Wyoming, a tiny village within the borders of Richmond and Hopkinton, Rhode Island, shares a name with Wyoming, the least populous state in the United States.
Waymark Code: WM15NDB
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 01/27/2022
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"Wyoming is a village and census-designated place on the Wood River in southern Rhode Island, primarily in the town of Richmond, Rhode Island, but extending north across the river (which defines the town line) into the town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island. The population was 270 at the 2010 census. It is the site of the Wyoming Village Historic District and a post office assigned ZIP code 02898." (Source: Wikipedia)
The Richmond Historical Society offers an essay written in 1986 -- OLD BIZNESS-NEW BIZNESS -- in which local author Eleanor H. Smith writes about the village's history. The four-page, typed document begins:
The village of Wyoming, Rhode Island, has awakened from a long sleep. It grew steadily from birth in the 1700's into the late 1800's - early 1900's when it reached its peak. When mill industry declined, so did the village. People went else where to work and to live where they worked. The village dozed. About 25 years ago, Wyoming began to stir: local people appreciated coming home to the rural atmosphere, leaving the daily hassle at work. People came from cities, tested the calm atmosphere, and moved into it. Stores and services followed the people. Now thw [sp] village is fully awake, energized and growing.
Wyoming, like most of the villages in Richmond, began with farms. A cow, some chickens and a horse were basic settlers' equipment: the cow and chickens meant human sustenance, the horse represented transportation and powerful labor...
The small New England village predates and shares a name with Wyoming, the 44th state admitted to the Union (July 10, 1890), in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. With an area of 97,914 square miles (253,600 km2), it is ranked 10th largest in the U.S. By contrast, the village of Wyoming is approximately 1 square mile. Wyoming's population of 576,851 is the smallest total of all the states. Amusingly, Rhode Island's population is nearly double at 1,098,163 people and it's diminutive area ranked 50th at 1,214 square miles (3,144 km2). You could fit 145 Rhode Islands in Wyoming.