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History · Quonochontaug

17% of Quonochontaug’s homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1930 on.

2on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Quonochontaug’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Quonochontaug’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Quonochontaug’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Quonochontaug’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 viewBeachway, Quonochontaug, R.I (78847): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Quonochontaug came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Quonochontaug.

Read it all →

Quonochontaug was the site of an iron mining operation financed by Thomas Edison in the 1880s. Iron particles existed in the form of black sand on the beach, and they could be separated out with magnets and melted to produce iron. The venture failed after cheaper iron was later discovered.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Quonochontaug, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s3 items
Beachway, Quonochontaug, R.I (78847)c. 1930Beachway, Quonochontaug, R.I (78847)Brightman's Neighborhood Store on U. S. Rte. 1, Quonochontaug, R.I (78845)c. 1930Brightman's Neighborhood Store on U. S. Rte. 1, Quono…Floods - Rhode Island1938Floods - Rhode Island
1940s–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
Today3 recent
Ninigret Pond in Charlestown, RI2009Ninigret Pond in Charlestown, RINinigret Pond in Charlestown, RI 32009Ninigret Pond in Charlestown, RI 3Ninigret Pond in Charlestown, RI 22009Ninigret Pond in Charlestown, RI 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.

Beachway, Quonochontaug, R.I (78847)
Retake this viewBeachway, Quonochontaug, R.I (78847), c. 1930

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Quonochontaug

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Quonochontaug

Nobody well known was born in Quonochontaug itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ruth BuzziAmerican actress, comedian, and singer · b. 1936
Nathaniel PalmerAmerican explorer · b. 1799
Billy GilmanAmerican singer · b. 1988
Oliver Hazard PerryUnited States Naval Officer · b. 1785
Edward Lee GreeneAmerican botanist · b. 1843
Andrew BurnapAmerican actor · b. 1990

Questions about Quonochontaug’s history

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 (6) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.