Portal:Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Portal

Rhode Island (/ˌroʊd -/ ^ⓘ ROHD) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound; and shares a small maritime border with New York, east of Long Island. Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly more than 1.1 million residents as of 2024^[update]. The state's population, however, has continually recorded growth in every decennial census since 1790, and it is the second-most densely populated state after New Jersey. The state takes its name from the eponymous island, though nearly all its land area is on the mainland. Providence is its capital and most populous city.

Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century. Rhode Island was unique among the Thirteen British Colonies in having been founded by a refugee, Roger Williams, who fled religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to establish a haven for religious liberty. He founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes, creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations subsequently became a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts, earning it the moniker "Rogue's Island".

Rhode Island was the first colony to call for a Continental Congress, in 1774, and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, on May 4, 1776. After the American Revolution, during which it was heavily occupied and contested, Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, on February 9, 1778. Because its citizens favored a weaker central government, it boycotted the 1787 convention that had drafted the United States Constitution, which it initially refused to ratify; it finally ratified it on May 29, 1790, the last of the original 13 states to do so.

The state was officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations since the colonial era but came to be commonly known as "Rhode Island". On November 3, 2020, the state's voters approved an amendment to the state constitution formally dropping "and Providence Plantations" from its full name. Its official nickname, found on its welcome sign, is the "Ocean State", a reference to its 400 mi (640 km) of coastline and the large bays and inlets that make up about 14% of its area. (Full article...)

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Bristol County Jail is a historic jail at 48 Court Street in Bristol, Rhode Island, and home to the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society.

The jail was built on the site of a previous jail house dating to 1792 and salvaged materials were used extensively in the new construction. The present Bristol County Jail consists of a 36.5-foot-wide (11.1 m) by 46.4-foot-long (14.1 m) center hallway in a 2+1⁄2-story stone structure topped with a gable roof. The jail accommodated both the inmates and the jailer's family. The first floor is believed to have been the family's parlor, dining room and kitchen on the west side and the east side the jailer's reception room, office and storage room. The second floor housed the family's bedrooms and the inmates' cells, with low, medium and maximum security cells. The maximum security cells in the southeast portion of the jail had no heat, light or sanitary facilities and were enclosed by 2-foot (0.61 m) exterior stone walls and built atop thick floor timbers supported by 2-foot-thick (0.61 m) solid brick wall and further supported by a fieldstone wall from the cellar. (Full article...)

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Aerial view of Barrington in 2008

Barrington is a suburban, residential town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States, approximately 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Providence. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 17,153.

Barrington was founded by Congregationalist separatists from Swansea, Massachusetts, and incorporated in 1717. It was ceded from Massachusetts to Rhode Island and merged into Warren in 1747, and in 1770 made into a separate town by the Rhode Island legislature. It was a sparsely developed, agricultural community until the arrival of brickmaking companies in the 1850s, which employed large numbers of French-Canadians and Italians. The construction of a railroad to Providence in 1855 further contributed to suburban development, attracting residents of neighboring urban areas and contributing to the development of manufacturing industries. The post–World War II baby boom increased suburbanization trends, resulting in a large population increase. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

... that three decades after chasing away surveyors for a previous railroad with guns, residents of Wickford, Rhode Island, built their own railroad?
... that James Diossa rescued the only public library and post office in Central Falls, Rhode Island, when the city went into bankruptcy?
... that a Rhode Island TV station started out by re-running an inventory of 50 hours of cartoons and 14 old movies?
... that a Rhode Island TV station broadcast for 14 months and then was off the air for 26 years before returning?

Quotes related to Rhode Island

Political corruption is to Rhode Islanders as smog is to people who live in Los Angeles: nobody complains of its absence, but when it rolls around everyone feels right at home.

— Philip Gourevitch

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Credit: User:Juliancolton

Misquamicut State Beach is a state park that stretches 7 miles from Weekapaug in the east westward to Watch Hill. Misquamicut is in southern Washington County and is part of the town of Westerly.

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The following are images from various Rhode Island-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 2The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 3The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 4Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 5University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 6In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 7A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 8Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 9A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 10A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 11Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 12In 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Rhode Island in 1636, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp, depicting Roger Williams (from Rhode Island)
Image 13Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 14The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 15Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 16Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 17The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 18In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 191884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 20Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 21County results of the 2024 Presidential election. Kamala Harris (D) won every county, though she won Kent County by a narrow margin of 1.9% (from Rhode Island)
Image 22In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 23Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 24In 1936, on the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Rhode Island in 1636, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp, depicting Roger Williams (from Rhode Island)
Image 25Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 261884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 27The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 28The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 29The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 30Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 31Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 32Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 33Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 34The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 35The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 36Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 37The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 38University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 39Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 40Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 41The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 42University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 43Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 44The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 45Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 46The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 47Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 48County results of the 2024 Presidential election. Kamala Harris (D) won every county, though she won Kent County by a narrow margin of 1.9% (from Rhode Island)
Image 49Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 50The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 51The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 52The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 53Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 54Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 55Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 56University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 57Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 58Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 59Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 60The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 61A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 62The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 63Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 64Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.

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The Newport Bridge spanning the Narragansett Bay

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged or categorized (e.g. Category:WikiProject Rhode Island articles) correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.