Providence County, Rhode Island
Providence, chief town. This ancient and respectable county is bounded N. and E. by Massachusetts, S. by the county of Kent, and W. by Connecticut. It contains an area of 381 square miles. Population, 1820, 35,736; 1830, 47,018. Population to a square mile, 124. The surface of the county is generally uneven; some sections of it present rugged features, but no part of it is mountainous. The soil is various: some portions of the county are alluvial, some calcareous loam, and some of siliceous sand; but a strong gravelly loam generally prevails.
More attention is paid to agriculture in this county than formerly; good crops of corn, barley and rye are obtained, and all the varieties of the dairy, of fruits and vegetables are abundant for the supply of its numerous villages and the city.
The commercial interests of the county are important, but are principally confined to the flourishing city of Providence; but the manufacturing interests, particularly of cotton, are extended throughout the county, and engrosses a large share of its enterprize and capital. While the Pawtucket, Pawtuxet, Mashanticut, Pochasset, Wonasquatucket, and other streams, give those interests a constant operative power, the numerous beautiful villages erected on their borders testify that Providence county is one of the most important manufacturing districts in the new world.
