Portal:Rhode Island

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The Rhode Island Portal

Rhode Island (/ˌroʊd-/ ^ⓘ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It 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 Rhode Island 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. Rhode Island 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. Providence is its capital and most populous city.

Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years 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, which it did in 1774, and the first to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown, which it did 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, which it did 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 did ratify 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". In November 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 total area. (Full article...)

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The First Ward Wardroom is a historic meeting hall at 171 Fountain Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It is a single-story red brick building, with a low-pitch gable-over-hipped roof. Basically rectangular, an enclosed entry pavilion projects from the main block. The building, designed by William R. Walker & Son and built in 1886, is one of only three ward halls (structures built by the city and used as polling places and meeting halls) to survive in the state. Since about 1920 it has been the Major Walter G. Gatchell Post No. 306 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. (Full article...)

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Official portrait, 2017

John Francis Reed (born November 12, 1949) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Rhode Island, a seat he was first elected to in 1996. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district from 1991 to 1997. Reed graduated from the United States Military Academy and Harvard University, serving in the U.S. Army as an active officer from 1971 to 1979. He is the dean of Rhode Island's congressional delegation. (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 radio station WADK debuted its first talk show after a local businessman told the owner that "the great pastime of Rhode Island ... is talking politics"?
... that Sabina Matos, Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, did not speak English when she immigrated to the United States at age 20?
... that Northup Avenue Yard in Providence, Rhode Island, was described as "the finest in the New Haven system"?

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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:Daniel Case

The Newport Casino is located at 186-202 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987.

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

Image 1A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 2Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 3Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 4Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 5Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 6Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 7Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 8Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 9Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 10Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 11Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 12Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 13Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 14Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 15University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 16University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 17The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 18Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches. (from Rhode Island)
Image 19University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 201884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 21Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 22In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 23Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 24The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 25The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 26Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 27The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 28Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 29Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 30Forest along the Blackstone River (from Rhode Island)
Image 31Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 32Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches. (from Rhode Island)
Image 33A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 34In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 35The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 36The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 37The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 38Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 39In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 40The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 41The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 42The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 43Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 44The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 45Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 46University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 47County results of the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden (D) won every county. (from Rhode Island)
Image 48The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 49The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 50The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 51A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 52The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 53A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 541884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 55The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 56The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 57Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 58County results of the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden (D) won every county. (from Rhode Island)
Image 59In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 60Forest along the Blackstone River (from Rhode Island)
Image 61Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 62The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 63Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 64Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)

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Easton Beach in Newport, Rhode Island

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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.