However, after the people petitioned the General Assembly to divide it, the town of Hopkinton was incorporated on March 14, 1757. Hopkinton was named in honor of Stephen Hopkins, who was then governor of Rhode Island, and also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Residents with a high school degree or more make up 80 percent of the town, which has seen housing climb 18 percent to 2,662. Today, Hopkinton is still a rural town.
Recreation is highlighted by freshwater fishing facilities, parks and numerous campgrounds.
Hopkinton is one of the popular vacation areas of southern Rhode Island and convenient to miles of oceanfront beaches. Camp Yawgoog, operated by the Narragansett Council, Boy Scouts of America, and located in Rockville, is one of the largest Boy Scout camps in the United States. Rhododendrons and Eastern hemlock trees are just two of the many features at the Long and Ell Ponds Natural Areas, the only designated National Natural Landmark in Rhode Island. Hike the strenuous trails at Ell Pond, which mark the end of the Appalachian Mountain Club's Narragansett Trail, or other trails running through the Rockville Wildlife Management Area, which abuts the Long and Ell Pond areas. In the years before its independence, the Hopkinton side of the Pawcatuck River was the religious, business and civic center of Westerly.