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 1.11 million residents as of 2025. 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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Platform at Wickford Junction in June 2012

Wickford Junction station is a commuter rail station located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States. It is the southern terminus of the MBTA Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line and serves as a park and ride location for commuters to Providence and Boston. The station consists of a single high-level side platform on a stub-end siding next to the Northeast Corridor mainline.

The first station at the site opened in 1844. In 1870, the Newport and Wickford Railroad and Steamboat Company was opened from the station to Wickford Landing, where it connected with steamships to Newport, Rhode Island. The station was rebuilt in 1871, expanded in 1887, and rebuilt again around 1890 after a fire. Branch service ended in 1925, but the station remained open until 1981. A new station and parking garage opened on the same site on April 23, 2012, as part of the South County Commuter Rail project, which also included the new T. F. Green Airport station. (Full article...)

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Preparation for testing at the Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick

The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. state of Rhode Island is part of an ongoing worldwide viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of August 18, 2022, there has been 414,931 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island, 89 of which are currently hospitalized, and 3,636 reported deaths. Rhode Island's COVID-19 case rate and death rate per capita are the highest and twentieth highest, respectively, of the fifty states since the start of the pandemic.

As of August 3, 2022, 1,072,027 Rhode Islanders have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose (equivalent to over 99% of the state's population) with 901,041 Rhode Islanders completing the primary vaccine series (equivalent to 85.28% of the state's population), and 447,252 Rhode Islanders receiving at least one booster dose (equivalent to 42.33% of the state's population). (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 a Rhode Island TV station started out by re-running an inventory of 50 hours of cartoons and 14 old movies?
... that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait helped a U.S. senator win reelection?

Quotes related to Rhode Island

To me Newport could never be a place charming by reason of its own charm. That it is a very pleasant place when it is full of people, and the people are in spirits and happy, I do not doubt. But then the visitors would bring, as far as I am concerned, the pleasantness with them.

— Anthony Trollope

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Credit: Juliancolton

The Rose Island Light (built 1870) is located on Rose Island in Narragansett Bay in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States. The Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation preserves, maintains, and operates the lighthouse.

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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 21884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 3Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 4Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 5Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 6Rocky shoreline in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 7Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 8University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 9University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 10University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 11In 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 12Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 13The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 14University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 15County 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 16Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 17A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 18A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 19In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 20The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 21The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 22The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 23A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 24Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 25Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 26The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 27Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 28In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 29The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 30The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 31The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 32Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 33The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 34The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 35The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 36Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 37Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 38Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 39The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 40Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 41Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 42Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 43Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 44Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 45The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 46The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 47In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 48Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 49Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 50In 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 51A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 521884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 53Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 54The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 55Ninigret Pond National Wildlife Refuge (from Rhode Island)
Image 56County 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 57Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 58In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 59The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 60Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 61Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 62Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 63Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 64The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)

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Credit: User:ReneS

The Newport Bridge spanning the Narragansett Bay

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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.