With only 39 municipalities in our entire state, Rhode Island towns are pretty easy to understand. Or so you might think. In reality, Rhode Island is broken up into many more areas that have their own unofficial borders and personalities. These are also known as “census-designated places” or CDP’s. According to Wikipedia, a CDP name should “be one that is recognized and used in daily communication by the residents of the community” and generally includes a small, unincorporated area. Some are villages, and some even have their own zip code. In Rhode Island, these places can be pretty tiny. How tiny you ask? Here are the 12 tiniest “towns” recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as of 2015, reported by Suburban Stats.
The exclusive waterfront community of Watch Hill is the smallest, with a population of 154. Part of the town of Westerly, Watch Hill recently became famous when Taylor Swift bought her mansion there.
Oh, give me a home, where the population is only 270... That would be Wyoming, part of both Richmond and Hopkinton. The village was first settled in 1757, and a stagecoach road was built through it in 1815.
Clayville lies inside the towns of Foster and Scituate, and boasts the third smallest population at 300. It began as a mill village at the junctions of Plainfield Pike, Field Hill Road, and Victory Highway.
Three beach communities in Charlestown make up Quonochontaug, with a population of 333. In the 1880s, it was the sight of an iron mining operation financed by Thomas A. Edison.
With one of the most stunning ocean beaches in Rhode Island, Misquamicut is also part of Westerly. Hurricanes devastated the community in 1938, 1944, and 1954.
Greene, a village that is part of Coventry, has a population of 888. It started off as a railroad stop and is named for Rhode Island born American Revolution General Nathanael Greene.
Melville is a waterfront, boating community within Portsmouth and Middletown with a population of 1,320. Its marina is home to New England Boatworks and in the 1800's served as a Navy coaling station which was later converted to a fuel station.
Bradford has a population of 1,406 and is part of Westerly and Hopkinton. It has a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ashaway is a historic village in Hopkinton with a population of 1,485. It is named for the Native American name for the river that runs through it, Ashawaug.
Blink and you might miss these tiny communities here in Rhode Island. If you’re looking for tiny restaurants to go with your tiny towns, check here.
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