North Kingstown [key], town (1990 pop. 23,786), Washington co., S central R.I., on Narragansett Bay; inc. 1674 as Kings Towne, divided 1723 into North Kingstown and South Kingstown, Exeter separated 1742. North Kingstown includes Quonset Point and six villages. The site of North Kingstown was settled in 1641 by Roger Williams, founder of Providence, R.I. The town is a regional trade center and fishing port and attracts many tourists. Its industries include machine tools, processed foods, plastics, and other light manufacturing, vehicle importation and finishing, marine construction, and warehousing and distribution. Quonset Point, site of a former naval air station and construction battalion (Seabee) center where the Quonset hut was developed, is now a business park with a port. Of interest are Smith's Castle (1678); Old Narragansett Church (1707); Casey Farm (1725); the birthplace (now a museum) of Gilbert Stuart, the portrait painter; and numerous historic buildings. Narragansett Bay is used for recreational boating and fishing.
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