Cranston, formerly known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States.

Historians debate whether the town was named after Governor Samuel Cranston, the longest-serving Rhode Island governor, or his grandson Thomas Cranston, who was serving as Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives at the time that the town was created.

[citation needed] In the early 1770s, town meetings were held at the taverns of Caleb Arnold and Nehemiah Knight, where residents voted in favor of a resolution opposing the British Parliament's Coercive Acts; the town heavily supported the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War.

Though Cranston's overall population density was already much greater than the geographically larger Warwick,[14] a major factor contributing to its growth has been a large and semirural section west of Interstate 295, which has seen a high volume of housing development in recent years; Warwick has significantly less open land available for development.

This caused many major sites to be shut down and repaired, such as the Warwick Mall, Contour Dental Laboratories, and the CLCF Building.

The city occupies roughly three percent of Rhode Island's total land mass.

This gives Cranston one of the largest Italian-American communities in the United States, similar to neighboring Johnston and North Providence, Rhode Island.

[citation needed] Companies with corporate headquarters in Cranston include jewelry maker Alex and Ani and Coastway Community Bank.

Budlong, which is much larger than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, was built in the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration project.

Mayor Ken Hopkins proposed in 2023 to completely replace the aging structure with a new $3.5-million redesign which, at 7,000 square feet, would be one-third the current size.

Edgewood Yacht Club has long popular among local sailors and is a historic landmark located on the Providence River.

The Rhode Island Department of Corrections has its headquarters and its adult prison facilities in Cranston.

General city elections are held on the first Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years.

[38] The current Cranston city council president is Jessica M. Marino, a city-wide representative and first woman to hold the office.

The current mayor, Kenneth J. Hopkins, was sworn in on January 6, 2025, following his re-election to a second four-year term in November 2024.

At the federal level, Cranston is a part of Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district and is currently represented by Democrat Seth Magaziner.

[41] The current Cranston School Committee chairperson is Domenic F. Fusco, Jr., the Ward 3 representative.