BRISTOL, the shire-town of Bristol county (R.I.), U.S.A., 15m. S.E„ of Providence, on a peninsula between Narragansett bay and Mount Hope bay. It is served by the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad, and by a ferry to the island of Rhode Island. The population in 1930 was 11,953 Federal census. The principal village, Bristol, has a deep and capacious harbour, which has little commerce, except for a few coal barges, but is used largely by yachts, and is headquarters for a fishing fleet of power boats. It is a renowned yacht building centre, and has large manufactures of rubber and woollen goods. The manufac tured products in 1925 were valued at $15,861,781. In the north east part of the town is the Rhode Island Soldiers' Home (estab lished 1890).
The town is part of the land awarded to Plymouth Colony in 1676, at the close of "King Philip's War." It was incorporated by the Colony in 1681, and named after Bristol, England, in an ticipation of a commercial future. It became the shire-town in 1685; came under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts in 1692; and in 1747 was annexed to Rhode Island. The village was bombarded by the British, Oct. 7, and partially destroyed by a British force, May 25, 17