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History · Chepachet

Chepachet’s post office opened in 1806, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Chepachet was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is . Below: old-book passages.

1806first post office
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Public domain · Public domain
Quick answers

How Chepachet began

When was Chepachet founded?

1806

The Chepachet post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,704220 years
Founding year: the first Chepachet post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chepachet’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Chepachet are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1806: 220 years of Chepachet.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chepachet’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Chepachet came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chepachet.

Read it all →

"Chepachet" was originally inhabited by the Pequot and Nipmuc natives; the name means "where rivers meet".

Leading up to the American Revolution, the area was a hotbed for supporters of independence, and the Gloucester Light Infantry was founded in the Chepachet in 1774. During the Revolutionary War Loyalists from Newport were exiled near Chepachet, including Thomas Vernon, who recorded election celebrations in Chepachet in 1776:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Chepachet in 1891

Passages that mention Chepachet, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In 1833, the Baptist meeting house in the village of Chepachet not being permanently occupied, the Reverend Mr. Dunham was sent here by the Rhode Island Congregational Consociation. He supplied the pulpit about one year. An interesting Sunday school was sustained.
History of Providence County, Rhode Island1891 · page 536Read the page →
Read the text

In 1833, the Baptist meeting house in the village of Chepachet not being permanently occupied, the Reverend Mr. Dunham was sent here by the Rhode Island Congregational Consociation. He supplied the pulpit about one year. An interesting Sunday school was sustained.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and various kinds of excellent fish for cooking; then, in about threefourths of a mile, it passes through Keech pond, the largest natural division of water in the town. The river, after having run some miles, passing through the village of Chepachet, unites with Clear river and forms Branch river, …
History of Providence County, Rhode Island1891 · page 523Read the page →
Read the text

and various kinds of excellent fish for cooking; then, in about threefourths of a mile, it passes through Keech pond, the largest natural division of water in the town. The river, after having run some miles, passing through the village of Chepachet, unites with Clear river and forms Branch river, which flows into the Blackstone. vSuker stream runs into the Chepachet river northeast of the village. Early iron ore was obtained from Sea Patch river in this town for a forge in Woonsocket.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Chepachet, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Chepachet, Rhode Island2012Chepachet, Rhode IslandChepachet, Rhode Island2012Chepachet, Rhode IslandChepachet, Rhode Island2012Chepachet, Rhode IslandChepachet, Rhode Island2012Chepachet, Rhode IslandChepachet, Rhode Island2012Chepachet, Rhode IslandQSL KA1NJX2008QSL KA1NJX
On the National Register

1 listing protects 68 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
68
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Harmony2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chepachet’s history

What year was Chepachet founded?

The Chepachet post office opened in 1806, 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 →
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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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.