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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The Narragansett Pacer, illustrated in 1895

The Narragansett Pacer was one of the first recorded horse breeds developed in the United States. It emerged in the 18th century (1700s), and was theorized to have been bred from a mix of English and Spanish breeds, although the exact cross is unknown. The Pacer was associated with, and bred in, the state of Rhode Island and the area of New England; as horse breeding shifted to Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1700s, it became extinct by the 20th century.

Narragansett Pacer horses were owned and ridden by many famous people of the American Revolutionary War era, including President George Washington, Paul Revere, and others. The last known purebred Pacer is thought to have died around 1880, though the breed disappeared earlier from pedigrees in the late 1700s or early 1800s. (Full article...)

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McKee in 2022

Daniel J. McKee (born June 16, 1951) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 76th governor of Rhode Island since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as Rhode Island's 69th lieutenant governor from 2015 to 2021.

Born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, McKee received his undergraduate degree from Assumption College and received his master's degree from the Harvard Kennedy School. He served on the Cumberland town council from 1992 to 1998 and as mayor of Cumberland twice, from 2000 to 2004 and from 2006 until 2014. McKee was elected lieutenant governor in 2014 and reelected in 2018. When Governor Gina Raimondo resigned upon being confirmed as United States Secretary of Commerce in 2021, McKee ascended to the governorship. He was elected to a full term in 2022. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

... that James Diossa rescued the only public library and post office in Central Falls, Rhode Island, when the city went into bankruptcy?
... 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 broadcast for 14 months and then was off the air for 26 years before returning?
... that Northup Avenue Yard in Providence, Rhode Island, was described as "the finest in the New Haven system"?

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Texas could wear Rhode Island as a watch fob.

— Pat Neff

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Credit: User:Daniel Case

The Ocean Drive Historic District covers Ocean Drive along the southern shore of Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1976 and consists of houses on large lots that overlook the beaches and ocean.

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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 2The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 3Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 4Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 5In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 6The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 7Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 8The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 9Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 10In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 11Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 12Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 13The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 14The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 15Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 16Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 17In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 18The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 19Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 20County results of the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden (D) won every county. (from Rhode Island)
Image 211884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 22Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 23University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 24The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 25Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 26Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 27Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 281884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 29University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 30Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 31The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 32University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 33Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 34The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 35Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 36County results of the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden (D) won every county. (from Rhode Island)
Image 37The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 38Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 39Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 40The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 41The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 42Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 43University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 44Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 45A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 46In 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 47Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 48A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 49The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 50The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 51Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 52Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 53Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 54A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 55A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 56Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 57The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 58The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 59Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 60In 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 61Downtown Providence in 2008 (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 63Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 64The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside

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Credit: Flickr user: boliyou

The skyline of Providence, 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.