Quonochontaug, Rhode Island

Quonochontaug is a village in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States.[1] It is composed of three small beach communities, and is part of Charlestown.

Quonochontaug, Rhode Island
Village
Babcock House
Babcock House
Quonochontaug, Rhode Island is located in Rhode Island
Quonochontaug, Rhode Island
Quonochontaug, Rhode Island
Coordinates: 41°20′08″N 71°42′30″W
CountryUnited States
StateRhode Island
CountyWashington
TownCharlestown
Elevation
322 ft (98 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
02813
Area code401
GNIS feature ID1217618[1]

Geography

Quonochontaug is located between the Ninigret Pond and Quonochontaug Pond and their respective barrier beaches, both of which are salt ponds. The communities of West Beach, Central Beach, and East Beach house several hundred residents, mostly in the summers, and many houses are available as summer rentals.

Blue Shutters Beach is town-owned and is located at the end of East Beach Road in Quonochontaug. To the east of Blue Shutters, an unpaved road leads to the entrance of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. The area was listed as a census-designated place in the 2010 census.[2]

History

Quonochontaug was the site of an iron mining operation financed by Thomas A. Edison in the 1880s. Iron particles existed in the form of black sand on the beach, and they could be separated out with magnets & melted to produce iron. The venture failed after cheaper iron was later discovered.[3]

Historic places

In the TV series The X-Files, there are several references to Quonochontaug, related to one of its protagonists, Fox Mulder, whose family had a summer home there.

References
  1. "Quonochontaug, Rhode Island". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Quonochontaug, Rhode Island
  3. "The Edison Papers". edison.rutgers.edu.
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