Chepachet, Rhode Island

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Chepachet Village Historic District
(U.S. Registered Historic District)
Location:	Glocester, Rhode Island
Built/Founded:	1799
Architect:	Unknown
Architectural style(s):	No Style Listed
Added to NRHP:	March 31, 1971
NRHP Reference#:	71000031 [1]
Governing body:	Local

Chepachet is a village in the town of Glocester in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It is centered at the intersection of U.S. Route 44 (aka Putnam Pike) and RI Route 102 (aka Victory Highway and Chopmist Hill Road). Chepachet's ZIP code is 02814. "Chepachet" was originally a habitat of the Pequot and Nipmuc natives, the name means "where rivers meet"

The area is part of the Foster-Glocester Regional School District, meaning Ponaganset High School, located on Glocester's border with neighboring community North Scituate, is the only secondary school for residents of Chepachet. West Glocester Elementary, an elementary school in Chepachet, is part of the Glocester Elementary School District.

During the American Revolution in 1776, Loyalists from Newport were exiled near Chepachet, including Thomas Vernon who kept a detailed diary.[1] In 1842, Chepachet was the setting of the endgame of the Dorr Rebellion, which helped to win voting rights for non-landowners.

Chepachet gained brief national attention in episodes of television's The X-Files as the location of the youth summer home of main character Fox Mulder. In one episode set in Providence he mentions Chepachet is "20 miles up Route 5." This is only marginally correct, as the local Route 5 does not enter Providence's boundaries, but passes through Smithfield, and is accessible to Chepachet only by crossing Burrillville; actually, from Providence, US 44 (which crosses RI 5 in Greenville) is the most direct route to Chepachet, and from points north and south, it's RI 102.

Since 1926, the town has hosted an annual Fourth of July event, the Ancients and Horribles parade, notable for its political statements and ribald humor.

A US Navy auxiliary ship, USS Chepachet, was named for the town in the 1940s. The ship's bell resides at the seat of town government, and the ship's surviving crew had a 50th anniversary reunion in the town in 1998.

[edit] External links and references

• Thomas Vernon's Diary from 1776 online (describes life in Chepachet, RI)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Providence County, Rhode Island Cities Central Falls | Cranston | East Providence | Pawtucket | Providence | Woonsocket Towns Burrillville | Cumberland | Foster | Glocester | Johnston | Lincoln | North Providence | North Smithfield | Scituate | Smithfield CDPs Cumberland Hill | Greenville | Harrisville | Pascoag | Valley Falls Other villages Chepachet | Esmond | Forestdale | Georgiaville | Glendale | Hanton City | Harmony | Lime Rock | Manville | Mountaindale | Primrose | Slatersville

Coordinates: 41°54′54″N, 71°40′17″W

v • d • e U.S. National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register · History of the National Register of Historic Places · Property types · Historic district · Contributing property List of entries National Park Service · National Historic Landmarks · National Battlefields · National Historic Sites · National Historical Parks · National Memorials · National Monuments

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