Editing Hope Valley, Rhode Island (section)

==History==
The earliest European-American settlement of the village site was by Hezekiah Carpenter, who arrived in 1770 and [[dam]]med the [[Wood River (Pawcatuck River)|Wood River]] and built several small water-powered mills. His settlement was called Carpenter's Mills. Around 1818 a [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]] was built at the site. The [[textile industry]] arrived in 1824, when Gardner Nichols and Russell Thayer bought the existing mills and began to operate them for [[carding]] of [[wool]]; fulling, [[dyeing|coloring]] and finishing of [[cloth]]; and manufacture of textile machinery.<ref name=PresRI>[http://www.preservation.ri.gov/pdfs_zips_downloads/survey_pdfs/hopkinton.pdf Hopkinton Preliminary Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416042721/http://www.preservation.ri.gov/pdfs_zips_downloads/survey_pdfs/hopkinton.pdf |date=April 16, 2009 }}, Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, October 1976</ref>

The formerly separate village of Locustville, which grew up along Brushy Brook, is now part of Hope Valley. A dam and mill were built at the site of Locustville in 1820. In the late 19th century the Locustville mill property was taken over by the Nichols and Langworthy Company, which had operated the Hope Valley mills since 1835.<ref name=PresRI/>

There are conflicting versions of the origin of the village's name. The word "Hope" is the Rhode Island motto and used in various place names in Rhode Island. The phrase is used on the [[Rhode Island State Seal]] with an [[anchor]] because [[Roger Williams]] was inspired by the Biblical passage "hope is the anchor of the soul" in [[Hebrews (Bible)|Hebrews]], Verse 6:19.<ref>Howard M. Chapin notes published in "Illustrations Of The Seals, Arms And Flags Of Rhode Island," ([[Rhode Island Historical Society]], Providence: 1930) pg 4-5.</ref> In 2008 a town historian told the ''[[Providence Journal]]'' that Gardner Nichols renamed the village from Carpenter's Mills to Hope Valley "because all of his hopes were centered" in the village.<ref>Christine Dunn, [http://www.projo.com/projohomes/neighborhood/content//HO_hope_valley_NOTW_1116_11-16-08_THC69LA_v20.1d93bdc.html Neighborhood of the Week: Hope Valley retains mill charm], ''[[Providence Journal]]'', Sunday, November 16, 2008</ref> This version also appears in ''History of the State of Rhode Island''.<ref>''History of the State of Rhode Island'', Hoag Wade & Co, Philadelphia, 1878</ref>