Carolina Map
Carolina is a village that straddles the border of the towns of Charlestown and Richmond on the Pawcatuck River in Washington County, Rhode Island. Rhode Island Route 112 passes through the village. Carolina is identified as a census-designated place for reporting of data from the 2010 census.
The Carolina Village Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The district includes examples of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne architecture. The district comprises 71 properties over an area of 115 acres (0.47 km2) and includes the former mill complex and nearby residences. The district encompasses properties along Carolina Main Street and Carolina Back Road and their vicinity between Pine Hill Road and Alton-Carolina Road (Route 91), including houses along Butter Lane, Tall Pines Drive, Schoolhouse Lane, Carolina Mill Lane, and Downs Court.
In 1802 the first wooden dam and a gristmill were built on the river at the site of the village, which was then known as Nichols Bridge. A few years later, a cotton mill was established, with production buildings mostly located in Richmond, but some employee housing located across the river in Charlestown. In 1843 Rowland G. Hazard bought the mill, renaming it the Carolina Mills Company in honor of his wife, Caroline Newbold Hazard of South Kingstown. The village around the mill was also given the same name. The Rhode Island Historic Preservation Commission described 19th-century Carolina as a "center for the surrounding area, including a school, a church, a post office, a bank, several stores, a blacksmith shop, and halls for meetings, lectures, and 'entertainments'." The local post office was named "Carolina Mills" from 1850 until 1879, when it was renamed "Carolina."
Nearby cities include Westerly, Pawcatuck, Stonington, Mashantucket, Old Mystic.