John Smith was the first white settler to Burrillville.  He came to settle near a stream now called Tarkiln Brook.

Edward Salisbury was another early settler.  He bought 300 acres of land around Herring Pond with wages he saved from his enlistment in the French and Indian War.  The family traveled through the wildreness in a cart drawn by oxen and lived in a hut.  Soon after he was settled, the Revolutionary War started.  Being a minuteman, he had to leave his family not knowing when he would return.

The land that makes up Burrillville was once part of Glocester.  Town meetins were held in Chepachet and the people in the northern part felt it was too far to travel.  In 1806 Glocester was divided and the northern half was incorporated into a township by the name of Burrillville.  It was named after the Honorable James Burrill who was Attorney General of the State.