In 1730, the Town of Providence was divided into four towns-Providence, Smithfield, Scituate and Glocester. The Town of Glocester was named after Frederick Lewis, Duke of Glocester, who was the son of King George II of England. The proud history of the quaint Town of Glocester is filled with numerous notable and fascinating events. Early industry in Glocester consisted of farming, coal mining, lumber manufacturing, the manufacture of potash, forging, and the manufacture of cotton seed oil. Diverse industries such as cigar making, granite and marble quarrying, distilling, box making, hat manufacturing, and tin smithing have also been conducted in Glocester.  The Ancients and Horribles Parade held every Independence Day, July 4, boasts a crowd of over 10,000 spectators.Two hundred years have passed since the signing of the Declaration of Independence from the British Crown. Glocester own founding fathers were very much a part of this great and noble struggle for independence. The town of Glocester was immortalized by Rhode Island's renown writer, H.P. Lovecraft. Entranced by Glocester in 1923, he expressed its picturesque essence in verse, Selected Letters, Lovecraft, H.P., 4 November, 1923.

Government in Glocester, Rhode Island:

Glocester was Established in 1639, Incorporated in 1730-31
Glocester Form of Government: Five-member Town Council.
Glocester Council Meetings: The third Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm. Financial Town Meeting held the first Saturday after May 1.
Glocester Fiscal Year Begins: July 1

Glocester Town Hall
1145 Putnam Pike
Chepachet, Rhode Island 02814
FAX: 568-5850
Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Glocester General Demographic Characteristics

• Glocester Population: The population count for The Town of Glocester as of April 1, 2005, was 9,948. This represented a 7.81% increase (721 persons) from the 1990 population of 9,227.
• Glocester Rank: In 2005 Glocester ranks 30th in population among Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns.
• Glocester Median Age: In 2005 the median age of the population in Glocester was 38.2.
• Glocester Age Distribution: In 2005, 73.2% or 7,284 persons residing in Glocester were 18 years of age or older. 6,950 were 21 and over, 1,105 were 62 and over, and 915 were 65 and over.
• Glocester Population Density: The 2005 population density of Glocester is 181 persons per square mile of land area. Glocester contains 54.82 square miles of land area (141,982,143 Sq. meters) (35,084.82 acres) and 2.02 square miles of water area (5,224,207 square meters) (1,292.8 acres).
• Glocester Housing Units: The total number of housing units in the The Town of Glocester as of April 1, 2005, was 3,786. This represented an increase of 326 units from the 3,460 housing units in 1990.  Of the 3,786 housing units 227 were vacant. 142 of the vacant units were for seasonal of recreational use.
• Glocester Households: In 2005, there are 3,559 households in Glocester with an average size of 2.80 persons. Of these, 2,818 were family households with an average family size of 3.14 persons.
• Glocester Race:
  >Glocester Total Population of One Race: 9,880
  >Glocester White Population : 9,797
  >Glocester Black of African American: 34
  >Glocester American Indian and Alaska Native: 15
  >Glocester Asian Population : 24
  >Glocester Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0
  >Some Other Race in Glocester : 10
  >Glocester Total Population of two or More Races: 68
  >Glocester Hispanic or Latino: In 2005, 65 persons of Hispanic origin resided in Glocester. This represented 0.7% of the population. An increase of 19 or 41.3% from the 1980 Hispanic population of 46.
                                                             
                                      Glocester, Rhode Island Official Web Site