Barrington is a suburban, residential town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States, approximately southeast of Providence. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 17,153.

Barrington was founded by Congregationalist separatists from Swansea, Massachusetts, and incorporated in 1717. But epidemics largely eliminated their coastal settlements, and their main settlement was roughly Bristol, Barrington, and Warren, Rhode Island In 1653, investors from Plymouth Colony bought "Sowams and Parts Adjacent" from the Wampanoags, corresponding to Barrington and parts of Bristol, Warren, and Swansea, Massachusetts. Barrington was ceded to Rhode Island in 1747 and made a part of Warren. In 1770, the Rhode Island legislature made Barrington a separate town.

Geography

Barrington is on the eastern side of Narragansett Bay, in Bristol County, the third-smallest county in the United States. Situated southeast of Providence, it consists of two peninsulas divided by the Barrington and Warren rivers. The shoreline of the western peninsula, Phebe's Neck or Popanomscut, is marked by many coves and indentations, making a sharp bend at Nayatt Point. Rumstick Neck, around one and a half miles east of Nayatt, forms the southern end of Phebe's Neck. Northeast of Phebe's Neck lies the second peninsula, New Meadow Neck, which is bordered by Hundred Acre Cove and the Palmer River.

Barrington lies on a low, mostly flat plain bordering the sea. This plain, composed mostly of layers of clay, gravel, sand, and silt soils, was formed by a melting glacier towards the end of the last ice age.

{|class="wikitable"

|+Demographics (2010)

|-

|White

|94.7%

|-

|Asian

|2.8%

|-

|Two or more races

|1.5%

|-

|Black

|0.5%

|-

|Other race

|0.4%

|-

|American Indian or Alaska Native

|0.1%

|}

As of the 2010 United States Census, Barrington had a population of 16,310. It is a predominantly white community at 94.7 percent of residents. There were 6,011 households; 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.7% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. Of all households, 18.8% were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.14. The population was spread out, with 28.2% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.

According to 2017 United States Census estimates, the median income for a household in the town was $117,408, and the median income for a family was $139,591.

Government

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:1em 0 1em 1em; font-size:95%;"

|+ Barrington town vote<br /> by party in presidential elections

|-

! Year

!GOP

!DEM

!Others

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |2024

| style="text-align:center"; |27.01% 2,865

| style="text-align:center"; |69.66% 7,389

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|3.33% 353

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |2020

| style="text-align:center"; |26.67% 2,889

| style="text-align:center"; |71.21% 7,713

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|2.12% 230

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |2016

| style="text-align:center"; |29.70% 2,898

| style="text-align:center"; |63.06% 6,153

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|7.25% 707

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |2012

| style="text-align:center"; |40.14% 3,836

| style="text-align:center"; |58.15% 5,557

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.71% 163

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |2008

| style="text-align:center"; |37.11% 3,666

| style="text-align:center"; |61.50% 6,075

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.39% 137

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |2004

| style="text-align:center"; |42.40% 4,020

| style="text-align:center"; |55.80% 5,291

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|1.80% 171

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |2000

| style="text-align:center"; |42.60% 3,864

| style="text-align:center"; |50.55% 4,585

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|6.86% 622

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |1996

| style="text-align:center"; |42.05% 3,518

| style="text-align:center"; |48.12% 4,026

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|9.83% 822

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |1992

| style="text-align:center"; |40.22% 3,846

| style="text-align:center"; |41.50% 3,968

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|18.28% 1,748

|-

| style="text-align:center"; |1988

| style="text-align:center"; |55.77% 4,968

| style="text-align:center"; |43.88% 3,909

| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;"|0.35% 31

|}

Barrington is a part of the 32nd District in the Rhode Island Senate, represented by Democrat Pamela Lauria. The town is in Rhode Island's 1st congressional district, represented by Democrat Gabe Amo. It is a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections, as the majority of residents have not voted for a Republican presidential nominee since 1988, when the town backed George H. W. Bush.

During the 2016 Republican presidential preference primaries, Barrington was the only town in Rhode Island to be won by former Governor John Kasich of Ohio. He received 700 votes (44.87%), ahead of Donald Trump, who got 687 votes (44.04%).

The town is run by a town council.

Education

Public schools

Barrington Public Schools consists of four elementary schools (Sowams School, Primrose Hill School, Nayatt School, and Hampden Meadows School), Barrington Middle School, and Barrington High School.

Private schools

Private schools in Barrington include Barrington Christian Academy, St. Luke's, and St. Andrew's School.

Two Christian colleges occupied the Belton Court estate throughout the 20th and early 21st century. Barrington College was founded in 1900 and merged with Gordon College in 1985.

Barrington Public Library

Barrington established a library in 1806 when the pastor of the Barrington Congregational Church served as a librarian to the Barrington Library Society. After 20 years of the members paying a $1 fee, the town decided to help build up the library; starting in 1880 the library grew with books and materials. In 1984 the library moved next door. Since then, it has added a children's room, space for meetings, and renovations to keep up with technology and patrons' needs.

Historical locations and points of interest

Nine residential and commercial developments from the town's early suburbanization are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a record of important historical sites in American history. Alfred Drowne Road Historic District and Jennys Lane Historic District are historical subdivisions that developed during the late 1800s and early 1900s, having attracted residents from neighboring urban communities. Rhode Island Country Club was constructed by Donald Ross in 1911, and since 1999 has hosted the CVS Charity Classic annually.

The Barrington Civic Center Historic District in central Barrington includes Prince's Hill Cemetery, Barrington Town Hall, and the Leander R. Peck School, the last now housing the library and town senior center. Barrington Town Hall, described by the architects as "medieval", was originally used as the town's seat of government, library, and school; with the construction of Leander R. Peck School in 1917, the school moved and the library took its space. The T-shaped Elizabethan-Revival Peck School, which features a stairway to access its main entrance, was repurposed as the Barrington Public Library in the 1970s.

Nayatt Point Lighthouse, adjoined with its corresponding dwelling, served to guide vessels along the Providence River, marking the narrow passage between Nayatt and Conimicut Point. St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, founded by an Episcopal mission in the 1880s, mixes Queen Anne and Gothic Revival-style architecture. Belton Court, built for Frederick Peck, a businessman and Rhode Island politician, was the site of two colleges before being auctioned to a Massachusetts investor who intends to repurpose it as elderly housing. O'Bannon Mill, among the first mills to mass-produce imitation leather, went through three purchasers before being converted into elderly apartment housing in the 1990s.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="140px">

File:Nayatt Point Lighthouse in Barrington RI.jpg|Nayatt Point Lighthouse,

File:Princes Hill Cemetery, Barrington Rhode Island.jpg|Prince's Hill Burial Ground

</gallery>

Notable people

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  • Frederick S. Peck was a Rhode Island industrialist, philanthropist, politician, and art collector best known for building Belton Court—one of the largest homes ever constructed in the United States.
  • David Angell, television sitcom producer (Frasier); multiple Emmy Award winner; lived in West Barrington; died during the September 11 attacks
  • Nicholas Bianco, boss of the Patriarca crime family; lived in Barrington
  • Thomas W. Bicknell, educator and historian; born in Barrington
  • Ken Block, founder of the Moderate Party of Rhode Island, lives in Barrington
  • Matt Borges, Ohio Republican Party Chairman from 2013 to 2017, born and raised in Barrington
  • Bob Burnett, folk singer, banker and member of the folk band The Highwaymen, served as bank vice president in Barrington
  • Christopher Denise, illustrator of children's books (The Great Redwall Feast, A Redwall Winter's Tale), lived in Barrington
  • Nick DiGiovanni, American online personality and chef, lived in Barrington
  • Thomas Francis Doran, Roman Catholic bishop, born in Barrington
  • Brad Faxon, golfer with the PGA Tour; lived in Barrington
  • Henry Giroux, academic and cultural critic; taught high-school social studies in Barrington
  • Spalding Gray, actor, screenwriter and playwright (Swimming to Cambodia); raised in Barrington
  • Michael S. Harper, Poet Laureate of Rhode Island (1988-1993); lived in Barrington
  • Robert J. Healey, political activist, lived in Barrington
  • Brian Howe, actor, lived in Barrington
  • Carolyn Huntoon, NASA scientist, first woman director of the Johnson Space Center, resides in Barrington
  • Linda Laubenstein, HIV/AIDS researcher, raised in Barrington
  • Phil Madeira, Nashville musician and songwriter, raised in Barrington
  • Shanna Moakler, model and actress; first runner-up at Miss USA 1995; alumna of Barrington High School
  • Janet Moreau, 1952 Olympic champion runner in the 4 × 100 meters lived in Barrington
  • Sean Spicer, former White House Press Secretary, was raised in Barrington
  • Edward F. Welch, Jr., rear admiral of the United States Navy, born in Barrington
  • C. D. Wright, poet, lived in Barrington

References

  • Town of Barrington Official Web Site
  • Town of Barrington Official GIS Maps and Property Information