Portal:Rhode Island

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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 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 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, 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". 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 area. (Full article...)

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Harry Kizirian (Armenian: Հէրի Գիզիրեան; July 13, 1925 – September 13, 2002) was an Armenian American member of the United States Marine Corps who served during World War II. Kizirian's service lasted from February 1944 to February 1946, during which he spent seventeen months overseas. Kizirian took part in the Battle of Okinawa, where he landed during the first assault wave while heading a Marine fire team.

Having been awarded the Navy Cross, the Rhode Island Cross, the Bronze Star with Combat "V", and the Purple Heart twice, Kizirian is considered one of the most decorated marines of World War II. He is also the most decorated serviceman from Rhode Island. In 1961 he was appointed by John F. Kennedy as the postmaster of Providence, becoming (at age 36) one of the youngest postmasters in the United States. During his postmastership, Kizirian was instrumental in establishing the first automated post office in the country, which made the Providence post office an operational model for the United States and worldwide. (Full article...)

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Ince, c. 1918

Thomas Harper Ince (November 16, 1880 – November 19, 1924) was an American silent era filmmaker and media proprietor. Ince was known as the "Father of the Western" and was responsible for making over 800 films.

Ince revolutionized the motion picture industry by creating the first major Hollywood studio facility and invented movie production by introducing the "assembly line" system of filmmaking. He was the first mogul to build his own film studio dubbed "Inceville" in Palisades Highlands. Ince was also instrumental in developing the role of the producer in motion pictures. Three of his films, The Italian (1915), for which he wrote the screenplay, Hell's Hinges (1916) and Civilization (1916), which he directed, were selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. He later entered into a partnership with D. W. Griffith and Mack Sennett to form the Triangle Motion Picture Company, whose studios are the present-day site of Sony Pictures. He then built a new studio about a mile from Triangle, which is now the site of Culver Studios. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

... that Northup Avenue Yard in Providence, Rhode Island, was described as "the finest in the New Haven system"?
... 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 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?

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Texas could wear Rhode Island as a watch fob.

— Pat Neff

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Credit: flickr

Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering 147 mi² (380 km²). It forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago.

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

Image 1Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 2A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 3Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 4The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 5Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 6Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 7The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 8In 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 9Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 10Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 11Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 12Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 13University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 14Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 15In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 16Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 17A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 18The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 19The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 20Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 21University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 22The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 23Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 24The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 25County results of the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden (D) won every county. (from Rhode Island)
Image 26Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 27Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 28In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 29Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 30The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 31The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 32The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 331884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 34Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 35The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 36A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 37The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 38Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 39The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 40Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 41In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 42The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 43Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 44A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 45The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (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 48Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 49Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 50Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 51The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 52The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 53University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 54Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 55Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 561884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 57Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 58Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 59The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 60The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 61Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 62In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 63Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 64In 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)

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Credit: User:UpstateNYer

The Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge with lightning

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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.