Cranston, once known as
Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County
, Rhode
Island
, United
States
. With a population of 79,269 at the
2000 census, it is the third
largest city in the state. The
center of population of Rhode Island is
located in Cranston
[20001]. Cranston is a part of the
Providence metropolitan
area.
Cranston was named one of the "100 Best Places to Live" in the
United States by Money magazine in 2006
[20002]. It is among the top 25 safest cities
in the country, according to
CQ Press's
research.
Geography
Cranston is located at (41.773200, -71.453289).
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
29.9 square miles (77.5 km²), of which, 28.6 square
miles (74.0 km²) of it is land and 1.4 square miles
(3.5 km²) of it (4.54%) is water.
The following
neighborhoods are located
in Cranston:
Public High/Middle Schools
- Cranston High School West
- Cranston High School East
- Western Hills Middle School
- Hugh B. Bain Middle School
- Park View Middle School
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 79,269
people, 30,954 households, and 20,243 families residing in the city
of Cranston. The
population
density was 2,774.6 people per square mile (1,071.3/km²). There
were 32,068 housing units at an average density of
1,122.5/sq mi (433.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was
89.19%
White, 3.69%
African American, 0.30%
Native American, 3.28%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 1.93% from
other races, and 1.57%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 4.56% of the
population.
Over 30% of Cranston's residents describe themselves as Italian
American, one of the highest percentages of this ethnic group in
cities with over 50,000 residents in the United States.
Cranston is a part of the
Providence metropolitan area,
which has an estimated population of 1,622,520.
There were 30,954 households, out of which 28.7% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were
married couples living together, 12.5% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families.
29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the city the population was spread out, with 21.6% under the age
of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to
64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every
100 females of age 18 or over, there were 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $44,108, and the
median income for a family was $55,241. Males had a median income
of $40,031 versus $28,279 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$21,978. About 5.6% of families and 7.3% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 8.6%
of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Four
freeways travel through Cranston:
I-95,
I-295,
RI 10 (the Huntington
Expressway) and
RI 37. Other state-numbered
roads in Cranston are
U.S. 1,
US 1A,
RI 2,
RI 5,
RI 12,
RI
33,
RI 51,
RI 115
and
RI 117.
Cranston is served by
Rhode Island Public
Transit Authority (RIPTA) buses.
Amtrak's
Northeast Corridor passes through
but has no station in the city.
The MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line will
also pass through upon the completion of the new train station at
T.F.
Green Airport
, but will not include a station in
Cranston.
Sites
The first auto race track in the country, Narragansett Park, opened
in present-day Stadium in September 1886.
Cranston is home to the Budlong Pool, one of the largest outdoor
swimming pools in the country. Built
in the 1940s as a
Works
Progress Administration project, it is a staple of the
community. It is located at 198 Aqueduct Road, off Reservoir Avenue
(part of
RI 2).
Sprague
Mansion
, an 18th-century homestead, is listed on the
National Register
of Historic Places [20003]. The Thomas Fenner House
, built around 1677, is one of the oldest houses in
Rhode Island. Edgewood Yacht Club
is a notable structure on the National Register of
Historic Places located on the Providence River.
The
Cranston Country Club is
the only public golf course in Cranston.
Notable residents
Joseph Domenico - Arguably the greatest athlete to ever come out of the city(also voted RI's sexiest man alive of 2008)
- A.J. Smith
- General Manager of the San Diego Chargers spent several years as
a coach at Cranston High School West
- Dennis Wholey - Talk show host;
was born in Cranston
- Deon Anderson- played in the
NFL for the Dallas
Cowboys
- Elisabeth Hasselbeck - of
Survivor fame and co-host of
The View
- Elisha Hunt Rhodes, Noted
General and American Civil War diarist.
- George J. Peters, United States Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II
- Hugh Duffy, major league baseball player
- Jack Capuano-retired former
professional ice hockey defenseman and head coach of New York
Islanders junior league affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers
- Jack Reed U.S
Senator from Rhode
Island

- Marissa Castelli - Bronze
medalist at the 2008 U.S. Figure skating Championships in novice
pairs
- Mark Van Eeghen- Former NFL Pro
Bowl running back who played for the Los Angeles Raiders and the New England Patriots
- Michael Parkhurst-Former New
England Revolution soccer player. 2005-2008. 2005 MLS Rookie of the
year, 2006 Humanitarin of the year, 2007 Defender of the Year, 2007
fair play of the Year, 2007 MLS Best XI, 2008 Fair Play of the
Year.
- Monty Are I- Popular American Rock
Band. All grew up in Westwood.
- Nehemiah R. Knight - Governor of Rhode Island
1817-1821 and U.S. Senator 1821-1841, born in Cranston
- Robert Knight -
textile manufacturer, founder of Fruit
of the Loom
- Sasha Cagen, public intellectual and creator of the
Quirkyalone movement
- Sergei
Khrushchev - son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, acts as a Senior Fellow
at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown
University

- Tom Mellor- played in the national
hockey league. won a silver medal at the 1972 olympics
- Vinny Paz- former lightweight and
light middleweight boxing champion
-
1996 Little League National Champions-Cranston Western Little
League-Defeated by Chinese Taipei 13-3 in World
Championship.
- Will Blackmon -
NFL defensive back for Green Bay
Packers, also starred at Bishop Hendricken High School and
Boston
College

- William
Carpenter - Early settler from 1644 and who in 1685 was buried
on his former homestead in present-day Cranston. He was the first
surnamed Carpenter to make permanent residence in America arriving
from England in the mid-1630s.
- Frederick Lewis Weis
reverend, author
- Don T. Volino, Jr. Italian philanthropist, media
consultant
- Steve Laffey, former Mayor of
Cranston
- Michael Napolitano, former
Mayor of Cranston
- Edward D. DiPrete, former Governor of Rhode Island
and former Mayor of Cranston
- Joe Trimble - former MLB pitcher for
the Boston Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates
In pop culture
The leading female character in the 1970 film
Love Story, Jennifer Cavalleri,
is said to hail from Cranston.
Family Guy creator
Seth McFarlane has stated that the fictional
town of Quahog, Rhode Island is modeled after Cranston.
Sister cities
References
External links