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History · Ashaway

Ashaway’s post office opened in 1852, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1889 on.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ashaway’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ashaway began

When was Ashaway founded?

1852

The Ashaway post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,501174 years
Founding year: the first Ashaway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ashaway’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18895 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 2001. Watch Ashaway change.Old housesHalf of Ashaway’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ashaway’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ashaway’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAshaway School, Ashaway, Hopkinton, RI: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Ashaway on the map, 1889 to 2001

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashaway. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Ashaway on the 1889 USGS mapAshaway on the 1893 USGS mapAshaway on the 1921 USGS mapAshaway on the 1984 USGS mapAshaway on the 2001 USGS map1889Stonington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ashaway.

The story so far

Ashaway, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ashaway yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Ashaway () is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, United States. It is a principal village of Hopkinton, along with Hope Valley, although it is the smaller of the two. As of the 2020 census, Ashaway had a population of 1,501. The name Ashaway is derived from the American Indian name for the river that runs through the village, the Ashawague or Ashawaug, which means "land in the middle" or "land between" in the Niantic and Mohegan languages. The name "Ashawague River" appears as late as 1832 on the Findley map of Rhode Island published in Philadelphia.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,485 in 2010, 1,501 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Ashaway, 1885 to 1904

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Born hereArthur Montrose Cottrell is born here
  3. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904In the archiveAshaway School, Ashaway, Hopkinton, RI
By decade

Ashaway, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Ashaway School, Ashaway, Hopkinton, RI1904Ashaway School, Ashaway, Hopkinton, RI
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
RI Route 216 northbound2013RI Route 216 northboundFirst Seventh Day Baptist Church of Hopkinton2013First Seventh Day Baptist Church of HopkintonCrandall House2013Crandall HouseHopkinton City Historic District 22008Hopkinton City Historic District 2
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Ashaway School, Ashaway, Hopkinton, RI
Retake this viewAshaway School, Ashaway, Hopkinton, RI, 1904

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ashaway’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hopkinton4 historic placesAWesterly14 historic placesA+

Questions about Ashaway’s history

What year was Ashaway founded?

The Ashaway post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.