Exeter History
The town of Exeter is centrally located in the state of Rhode Island. The town is composed of a total area of 58.4 square miles (151 km2). Exeter extends east from the Connecticut border towards the town of North Kingstown. Bordered to the north by West Greenwich and East Greenwich, to the south by the towns of Hopkinton, Richmond, and South Kingstown. Exeter is situated about twenty-five miles southwest of Providence in Washington County. According to the United States Census Bureau, Exeter's population is 6,519 (2019).
The land that we now recognize as the town of Exeter was inhabited long before the colonists arrived. Native Americans lived and thrived on this land for thousands of years. When Roger Williams left the Massachusetts Bay Colony in l636 he formed a settlement named Providence in a region that would ultimately become the state of Rhode Island. He was befriended by the Narragansett Native American tribe and their sachem Canonicus. The Narragansetts were highly respected as the most powerful tribe in the area by Roger Williams. However, the mutual respect of the Native Americans and the settlers would soon disappear as colonists coveted the Natives' valuable lands.
Roger Williams moved south and established a trading post at the intersection of two major Native American thoroughfares, the Pequot Path (now Post Road) and the major east-west route of Narragansett People between their winter and summer villages (now Stony Lane). In 1643 Williams decided to make the “Narragansett Country,” as it was then known (present day North Kingstown) his permanent home. In 1651, Roger Williams, needing funds for a trip to England to secure the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Colony’s Charter, sold his land to Richard Smith.
In 1657, what is now the eastern end of Exeter was bought as part of the Pettaquamscutt Purchase from the Narragansetts. In 1674, Kings Towne was founded by the colonial government. The area contained much of the old “Narragansett Country” and included the present day towns of North Kingstown, South Kingstown, Exeter, and Narragansett. Kings Towne got off to a rocky start, as by virtue of its strategic location and Richard Smith’s growing allegiance with the Connecticut Colony, it became the center of turmoil that was the King Phillip's War. A conflict between the Narragansett and Wampanoag People and the inhabitants of the Connecticut, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, was fought in 1675-6. When the dust settled, Kings Towne was in the sole possession of the colonists and the expansion began. Settlement in all areas of Kings Towne was increasing at such a rapid velocity that in 1722 the colonial government decided to split the land into two towns, North Kingstown and South Kingstown. In 1742 North Kingstown's western section was dissected to form the town of Exeter.
Exeter flourished during the 1800s. Farms and villages grew up around the rivers and streams, providing power for textile manufacturing, saw mills, and grist mills. Stores, taverns, schools, a library, churches, and a bank were all established within the town.
Exeter continues to be an active rural community, with abundant farms, forests, and open spaces for the community to enjoy.
