Kent

Formed June 11, 1750 (5^th county)

Kent County (170,358), East Greenwich* (14,312), Warwick (82,825)

The Modern brick building was constructed in 2006 in Warwick.  The East Greenwich courthouse was built in 1804.  The Warwick Courthouse is on Quaker Lane between Trellis Road and Old Carriage Road.  Rhode Island State Highway 2 is one block to the east of the site.  Helmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum are the architects.  The county was established on June 11, 1750 from Providence County as the 5^th and final county.  Kent County is named for Kent County, England.  The county seat is named for the Earl of Warwick.  Kent County is the birthplace of 5 Rhode Island governors, William Greene, Henry B. Anthony, Robert E. Quinn, Philip W. Noel, and Donald L. Carcieri. 

Kent County has a sheriff but doesn’t have a unified government as each township governs.  Twenty-six Superior Court Judges and Fourteen District Court Judges serve the entire state.  Kent County is on the western border with Connecticut.  The geographical center of Rhode Island is 1 mile south-southwest of Crompton in the county.  Providence, Rhode Island is directly north and Hartford, Connecticut is west of the county.  The county center is 2.3 miles Southwest of West Warwick in Coventry.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Providence, Bristol, Newport, and Washington counties and Connecticut. 

The area of the county is 168 square miles.  It is 3 out of 5 in the state.  It ranks 2 out of 5 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1014.0 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 5 in the state.  Kent County has 48.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 95 crosses through the county from north to south from Providence County to Washington County.  United States Highway 1 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Providence to Washington counties.  The county resembles the head of a buffalo with a square body.  West Warwick is located in the eastern third of the county.  Warwick is in the northeast corner of the county.  East Greenwich Warwick is the county seat and Warwick is the largest city since it is the only incorporated city.  East Greenwich is unincorporated and 8.4% of the county population while Warwick is 48.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Providence-New Bedford-Fall River Metropolitan Statistical Area.