Greenville is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Smithfield in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 8,626 at the 2000 census. The CDP is centered around the village of Greenville but also encompasses the nearby villages of West Greenville and Spragueville, as well as the Mountaindale reservoir and beach. The village of Greenville is named after Revolutionary War General, Nathanael Greene, who was born in Rhode Island in 1742. Greenville was first settled in the 1600s. The village contains the Greenville Baptist Church, and there are many apple orchards in the surrounding area. This area of Smithfield, is known to be the more wealthy section. The area was active in the Free Will Baptist movement in the nineteenth century, and the Smithville Seminary, a Free Baptist institution, was nearby. The Ku Klux Klan was active in the area in the 1920s. U.S. Route 44, known locally as "Putnam Pike" runs through the center of Greenville.