History of Greenville, Rhode Island
Greenville is a village and census-designated place (CDP) located in Smithfield, Rhode Island in Providence County, Rhode Island. The population was 8,626 at the 2000 census.
Image:GreenvilleBank.JPG|thumb|175px|right|Greenville Bank
Image:GreenvilleStage.JPG|thumb|175px|right|Stagecoach on Route 44 in [[Greenville, Rhode Island at the turn of the century outside Greenville Tavern[http://books.google.com/books?id=VRQmCRrnEMQC&pg=PA262&lpg=PA262&dq=resolved+waterman+greenville+tavern&source=web&ots=tN4yls46l1&sig=h4f2u6hURnUEYfCH5Ew0LCZ7zFs] ]]
Image:Arthur Steere House.JPG|thumb|150px|right|The farm of Greenville resident, [[Arthur Steere at the turn of the twentieth century]]
The village is named after Revolutionary War General, Nathanael Greene, who was born in Rhode Island in 1742. Greenville was first settled in the 1600s. The village contains the Greenville Baptist Church (American Baptist Association), and there are many apple orchards in the surrounding area. The area was active in the Free Will Baptist movement in the nineteenth century, and the Smithville Seminary, a Free Baptist institution, was nearby. The Ku Klux Klan was active in the area in the 1920s.[http://www.projo.com/specials/century/month4/426nw1.htm] U.S. Route 44, known locally as "Putnam Pike" runs through the center of Greenville.
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