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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Thornton ...

Thornton is located in Providence County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Thornton, you might consider that their post office opened in 1889.

Thornton is 80 feet [24 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Thornton lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Thornton: 401

Communities Also Named Thornton ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 28 communities that are also named Thornton - they are located in Alabama (2), Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho (2), Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Thornton.

Websites for Thornton ...

Junior League:   www.jlri.org/

Communities near Thornton ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Thornton.

  • Providence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Providence is located in Providence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179,270 people
  • Fall River
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Fall River is located in Bristol County (MA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 89,792 people
  • Warwick
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Warwick is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warwick
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 81,189 people
  • Pawtucket
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Pawtucket is located in Providence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawtucket
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 71,710 people
  • East Providence
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • East Providence is located in Providence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Providence
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 47,337 people
  • Attleboro
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Attleboro is located in Bristol County (MA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 45,444 people
  • Woonsocket
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Woonsocket is located in Providence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woonsocket
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,545 people
  • Cumberland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Cumberland is located in Providence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,207 people
  • Coventry
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Coventry is located in Kent County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,931 people
  • North Providence
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • North Providence is located in Providence County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Providence
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 32,507 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Thornton. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Thornton.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Thornton. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Thornton.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Thornton. See our Newspapers Page for Thornton.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Thornton ...

Looking for more information about Thornton? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Thornton, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Thornton.

Adding Thornton to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Thornton in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Thornton was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<3>

From that list, the Thornton post office opened in 1889. The Thornton post office closed in 1927.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Thornton.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of the state's counties, including Providence, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Thornton - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/