Portal:Rhode Island

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The Rhode Island Portal

Rhode Island (/ˌroʊd-/ ^ⓘ, pronounced "road") 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 fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020; but it has grown at every decennial count since 1790 and 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 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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Bannister, c. 1880

Edward Mitchell Bannister (November 2, 1828 – January 9, 1901) was a Canadian–American oil painter of the American Barbizon school. Born in colonial New Brunswick, he spent his adult life in New England in the United States. There, along with his wife Christiana Carteaux, he was a prominent member of African-American cultural and political communities, such as the Boston abolition movement. Bannister received national recognition after he won a first prize in painting at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. He was also a founding member of the Providence Art Club and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Bannister's style and predominantly pastoral subject matter reflected his admiration for the French artist Jean-François Millet and the French Barbizon school. A lifelong sailor, he also looked to the Rhode Island seaside for inspiration. Bannister continually experimented, and his artwork displays his Idealist philosophy and his control of color and atmosphere. He began his professional practice as a photographer and portraitist before developing his better-known landscape style. (Full article...)

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Cohan in 1918

George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878 – November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.

Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudeville act known as "The Four Cohans". Beginning with Little Johnny Jones in 1904, he wrote, composed, produced, and appeared in more than three dozen Broadway musicals. Cohan wrote more than 50 shows and published more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including the standards "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag". As a composer, he was one of the early members of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). He displayed remarkable theatrical longevity, appearing in films until the 1930s and continuing to perform as a headline artist until 1940. (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 Northup Avenue Yard in Providence, Rhode Island, was described as "the finest in the New Haven system"?
... 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:Loodog

Waterplace Park is an urban park situated in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, finished in 1994. It is connected to 3/4 miles of cobblestone-paved pedestrian walkways along the waterfront known as Riverwalk.

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General images

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

Image 1The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 2Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 3The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 4A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 5In 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 6The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 7The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 8Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 9Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 10The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 11The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 12University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 13Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 14In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 15The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 16In 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 17The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 18A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 19Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 20A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 21Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 22The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 23County results of the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden (D) won every county. (from Rhode Island)
Image 24Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 251884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 26The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 27Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 28The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 29Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 30In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 31Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 32Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 33The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 34In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 35Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 36Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 37The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 38Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 39Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 40The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 41Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 42The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 43University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 44Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 45The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 46The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 47Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 48Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 49University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 50A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 51University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 52Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 53County results of the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden (D) won every county. (from Rhode Island)
Image 54Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 55Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 56Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 57The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 58Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 59Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 60Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 61Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 62Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 631884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 64In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)

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Credit: User:Meegs

A baseball game at McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket, May 7, 2002.

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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.