Town of Foster
Updated Demographic and Economic Characteristics
* Annual information for 2000-2006 is available by downloading this Excel file
Government
Town Hall
181 Howard Hill
Foster, RI 02825
Fax: 401-397-9736
Hours 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
- Established: 1636
- Incorporated: 1781
- Form of government: Five-member town council. Home rule charter adopted in 1976.
- Council meetings: The first Thursday after the first Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Financial town meeting held the first Tuesday in May.
- Fiscal year begins: July 1
A summary profile of Census 2000 characteristics is available from the RI Office of Statewide Planning at: http://www.planning.ri.gov/census/citytown.htm
Community Links
Hyperlinks provided by the Office of Municipal Affairs, Rhode Island Department of Administration.
- Foster municipal departments and officials
- Foster state senator and representative
- Area points of interest and attractions: please visit the state tourism website
History
Foster, a residential and agricultural town, was set off from the town of Scituate, and incorporated on August 24, 1781. Foster's historic man-made environment dates primarily from the mid-18th to the mid-19th century; and within that time frame, many houses and farms date to the years between 1760 and 1820. The highest point in Rhode Island — Jerimoth Hill, which stands 812 feet above sea level — is located in northwest Foster. At key focal points villages grew up. Hopkins Mills was the first to develop in the early 1700s. Foster Center, the present seat of government, developed later in the 18th century, and it was here that the first Foster town meeting was held in 1781. The village of Clayville took form in the early 19th century, as did Moosup Valley, North Foster and Mount Vernon. Foster is rich in historic resources — houses, farmsteads, stone walls, roads and mill ruins — and in the natural beauty of its setting. Foster remains sparsely settled with almost four-fifths of the town's 52.2 square miles being hilly, and 88.2 percent of the land being forested.
Irena Nedeljkovic-Cunningham