Informal Usage
In informal usage, a U.S. village may be simply a relatively small clustered human settlement without formal legal existence.
In colonial New England, a village typically formed around the church meetinghouses that was located in the center of each town. Many of these colonial settlements still exist as town centers. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, industrial villages also sprang up around water-powered mills, mines, and factories. Because most New England villages were contained within the boundaries of legally established towns, many such villages were never separately incorporated as municipalities.
A relatively small unincorporated community, similar to a hamlet in New York state, or even a relatively small community within an incorporated city or town, may be termed a village. This informal usage may be found even in states that have villages as an incorporated municipality and is similar to the usage of the term "unincorporated town" in states having town governments.
Read more about this topic: Village (United States)
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