Bristol County, Rhode Island
| Bristol County, Rhode Island | |
 Location in the state of Rhode Island |
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 Rhode Island's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1747 |
|---|---|
| Seat | N/A |
| Largest city | Bristol |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
45 sq mi (117 km²) 25 sq mi (65 km²) 20 sq mi (52 km²), 44.80% |
| Population - (2010) - Density |
49,875 2,051/sq mi (792/km²) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
Bristol County is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of 2010, the population was 49,875.
Contents |
[edit] History
The county was formed by the transfer of part of Bristol County, Massachusetts, to the state of Rhode Island, and was the subject of a long-running border dispute. [1]
The original county was part of the Plymouth Colony and named after its "shire town" (county seat), what is now Bristol, Rhode Island. The new Rhode Island county was formed in 1746 with the full modern territory of Bristol, Barrington, and Warren.[2]
See Bristol County, Massachusetts for later land transfers between Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
[edit] Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 45 square miles (116.5 km2), the smallest county in Rhode Island, of which 25 square miles (64.7 km2) is land and 20 square miles (51.8 km2) (44.80%) is water. In land area only (water area omitted), it is the third-smallest county in the United States, following Kalawao County, Hawaii and New York County, New York (Manhattan), if independent cities of Virginia are not counted as counties.
[edit] Adjacent counties
- Bristol County, Massachusetts: east
- Providence County, Rhode Island: north
- Kent County, Rhode Island: west
- Newport County, Rhode Island: south
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Providence County | |
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| Kent County |  |
Bristol County, Massachusetts | ||
 Bristol County, Rhode Island  |
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| Newport County |
The border with Bristol County, Massachusetts is rather unusual since the counties both share the same name. The only other instances in which two neighboring counties with the same name share a state border are Sabine County, Texas and Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Union Parish, Louisiana and Union County, Arkansas, Kent County, Maryland and Kent County, Delaware, and Escambia County, Alabama and Escambia County, Florida respectively.
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1790 | 3,211 |
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| 1800 | 3,801 | 18.4% | |
| 1810 | 5,072 | 33.4% | |
| 1820 | 5,637 | 11.1% | |
| 1830 | 5,446 | −3.4% | |
| 1840 | 6,476 | 18.9% | |
| 1850 | 8,514 | 31.5% | |
| 1860 | 8,907 | 4.6% | |
| 1870 | 9,421 | 5.8% | |
| 1880 | 11,394 | 20.9% | |
| 1890 | 11,428 | 0.3% | |
| 1900 | 13,144 | 15.0% | |
| 1910 | 17,602 | 33.9% | |
| 1920 | 23,113 | 31.3% | |
| 1930 | 25,089 | 8.5% | |
| 1940 | 25,548 | 1.8% | |
| 1950 | 29,079 | 13.8% | |
| 1960 | 37,146 | 27.7% | |
| 1970 | 45,937 | 23.7% | |
| 1980 | 46,942 | 2.2% | |
| 1990 | 48,859 | 4.1% | |
| 2000 | 50,648 | 3.7% | |
| 2010 | 49,875 | −1.5% | |
| [3][4][5] | |||
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 50,648 people, 19,033 households, and 13,361 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,052 people per square mile (792/km²). There were 19,881 housing units at an average density of 805 per square mile (311/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.81% White, 0.69% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 1% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. 1.13% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 24.7% were of Portuguese, 18.6% Italian, 12.4% Irish, 10.5% English and 5.9% French ancestry according to Census 2000. 85.4% spoke English, 10.4% Portuguese and 1.3% Spanish as their first language. The United States Census Bureau reports Bristol County as one of two counties in the country with a plurality Portuguese population (the other being the contiguous Bristol County, Massachusetts).
There were 19,033 households out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.80% were non-families. 25.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the county, the population was spread out with 22.90% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 23.40% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 93.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.50 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $50,737, and the median income for a family was $63,114. Males had a median income of $41,902 versus $28,985 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,503. About 4.40% of families and 6.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.20% of those under age 18 and 9.60% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Towns
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "The Border is Where? Part II". The Rhode Islander: A depository of opinion, information, and pictures of the Ocean State. blogspot.com. 2007. http://oceanstater.blogspot.com/2007/02/border-is-where-part-ii.html. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
- ^ History of Bristol County, Massachusetts with Biographical Sketches of many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 1 edited by Duane Hamilton Hurd. J.W. Lewis and Co., 1883. [1]. p. 1.
- ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/ri190090.txt
- ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_QTPL&prodType=table
- ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
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