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 most of 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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Bob approaching New England near peak intensity on August 19

Hurricane Bob was one of the costliest tropical cyclones in New England history. The second named storm and first hurricane of the 1991 Atlantic hurricane season, Bob developed from an area of low pressure near The Bahamas on August 16. The depression steadily intensified, and became Tropical Storm Bob late on August 16. Bob curved north-northwestward as a tropical storm, but re-curved to the north-northeast after becoming a hurricane on August 17. As such, it brushed the Outer Banks of North Carolina on August 18 and August 19, and subsequently intensified into a major hurricane (Category 3 or greater on the Saffir–Simpson scale). After peaking in intensity with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), Bob weakened slightly as it approached the coast of New England.

Bob made landfall twice in Rhode Island as a Category 2 hurricane on August 19, first on Block Island and then in Newport. Upon doing so, it became the only hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States during the 1991 season. Moving further inland, Bob rapidly weakened, and deteriorated to a tropical storm while emerging into the Gulf of Maine. Shortly thereafter, Bob made landfall in Maine as a strong tropical storm early on August 20. Bob entered the Canadian province of New Brunswick a few hours later, where it transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. By August 21, the remnants of Bob crossed Newfoundland and re-emerged into the open Atlantic Ocean. The remnants traveled a long distance across the northern Atlantic Ocean, and finally dissipated west of Portugal on August 29. (Full article...)

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The Big Blue Bug, also known as Nibbles Woodaway, is the giant termite mascot of Big Blue Bug Solutions located along I-95 in Providence, Rhode Island. It is claimed to be the world's largest artificial bug at 928 times the size (by length) of an actual termite, standing 9 feet (2.7 m) tall and 58 feet (18 m) long and weighing 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg). It was constructed over a four-day period from wire mesh and fiberglass in late 1980 at a cost of US$20,000 (equivalent to $76,000 in 2024). (Full article...)

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... that a Rhode Island TV station broadcast for 14 months and then was off the air for 26 years before returning?
... that three decades after chasing away surveyors for a previous railroad with guns, residents of Wickford, Rhode Island, built their own railroad?
... that a Rhode Island TV station started out by re-running an inventory of 50 hours of cartoons and 14 old movies?

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Texas could wear Rhode Island as a watch fob.

— Pat Neff

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Brown University is a private university and member of the Ivy League located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1764, prior to American independence from the British Empire and early in the reign of King George III (1760–1820). Brown is the third-oldest institution of higher education in New England and seventh oldest in the United States.

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

Image 1Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 2A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 3Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 4County 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 5A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 6Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 7Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 8The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 9Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 10The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 11Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 12Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 13In 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 14The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 15Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 16In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 17The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 18The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 19The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 20In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 21Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 22Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 23Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 24University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 25The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 26The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 27Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 28Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 29The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 30The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 31Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 32In 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 33University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 34Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 35Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 36A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 37Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 381884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 39County 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 40In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 41University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 42The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 43Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 44Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 451884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 46Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 47Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 48The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 49The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 50Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 51Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 52The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 53Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 54Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 55A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 56The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 57Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 58In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 59The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 60Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 61Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 62The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 63University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 64The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside

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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.