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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The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball franchise based in Providence, Rhode Island from 1878 to 1885. During the team's eight seasons in the National League (NL), which then comprised eight teams, they finished third place or higher in the final standings seven times, and won the league championship in both 1879 and 1884. Providence played their home games at the Messer Street Grounds, which was located in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence. The Grays were officially organized on January 16, 1878 by Benjamin Douglas, who became the team's general manager. Henry Root was hired as the team president‚ and Tom Carey was initially hired to be the on-field captain, whose duties were similar to the modern-day manager. On January 21, 1878, Providence applied for membership in the NL, and was officially approved on February 6. On April 10, Root took over ownership of the team, fired Douglas for incompetence and insubordination, and hired Tom York to replace Carey as captain.

Providence was successful in signing several star players for their inaugural season: Paul Hines had played the previous four seasons with the Chicago White Stockings; Tom Carey was signed after the Hartford Dark Blues folded; Doug Allison was the catcher for the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, who had an 84-game winning streak from 1869 to 1870; and John Montgomery Ward, who was playing his first season in the major leagues. Ward had a win–loss record of 22–13 and Hines led the league in home runs, runs batted in (RBIs), and batting average as the Grays finished in third place among the six teams in the NL for the 1878 season, with a record of 33 wins, 27 losses, and 2 ties. The Grays won the NL championship in 1879, placing first among the league's eight teams with Ward winning 47 games as their starting pitcher, and the leadership of George Wright, who played second base and also managed. The team had a strong hitting line-up with Hines' league leading .357 batting average, as well as new additions Jim O'Rourke and Joe Start, who both had batting averages over .300. William Edward White, a Brown University player who played one game for the Grays on June 21, 1879, may have been the first African-American to play at the major league level; according to Peter Morris of the Society for American Baseball Research, the evidence for White is strong, but not conclusive. If this claim is true, then White pre-dated both Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Weldy Walker, who both played for the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association (AA). In 1880, the Grays finished in second place among the eight NL teams, with Ward winning 39 games. On June 17 of that year, Ward pitched the second perfect game in major league history. (Full article...)

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The First Baptist Church in America, also known as the First Baptist Church of Providence or the First Baptist Meetinghouse, is the oldest church in Rhode Island and the oldest Baptist church in the United States and the Americas. The church was established in 1638 by Roger Williams in Providence, Rhode Island. The present church building was erected between 1774 and 1775 and held its first meetings in May 1775. It is located at 75 North Main Street in Providence's College Hill neighborhood. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. (Full article...)

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... that the first Cape Verdean Museum in the United States is located in Rhode Island?
... that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait helped a U.S. senator win reelection?
... that a Rhode Island TV station started out by re-running an inventory of 50 hours of cartoons and 14 old movies?
... that the director of Rhode Island PBS confronted the state's governor in a sandwich shop to ask for funding?

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: Wadester16

The Breakers is a Vanderbilt mansion located on the Atlantic Ocean at Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It is a National Historic Landmark and a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, and is owned and operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

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

Image 1Downtown Providence in 2008 (from Rhode Island)
Image 2The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 3Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 4Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 5The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 6The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (from Rhode Island)
Image 7Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 8Map of Rhode Island, showing major cities and roads (from Rhode Island)
Image 9In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 10The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 11Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest existing synagogue building in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 12Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 13University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 14Rhode Island population density map (from Rhode Island)
Image 15University of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium in Kingston (from Rhode Island)
Image 16Trustom Pond, a lagoon in South Kingstown (from Rhode Island)
Image 17The Pawtucket Red Sox played at McCoy Stadium (from Rhode Island)
Image 18Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 19Many Rhode Islanders visit Washington County for its beaches (from Rhode Island)
Image 20Slater Mill in Pawtucket is cited as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
Image 21The East Bay Bike Path in Riverside
Image 22The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 23The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 24In 1636, Roger Williams and his followers founded the settlement of Providence Plantations. (from Rhode Island)
Image 25University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 26Köppen climate types of Rhode Island, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from Rhode Island)
Image 27University Hall at Brown University is one of the oldest academic buildings in the United States. (from Rhode Island)
Image 28County 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 29In 1680, Newport was the third largest Anglo-American city. It remained a prosperous population center until the 1770s. (from Rhode Island)
Image 30County 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 31A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 32Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 331884 Baseball Champion Providence Grays (from Rhode Island)
Image 34Topographic map of Rhode Island (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 36Ethnic origins in Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 37A nine-pence banknote issued by Rhode Island in 1786 (from Rhode Island)
Image 38Interior of The Breakers, a Newport symbol of the Gilded Age (from Rhode Island)
Image 39The Towers are a Narragansett landmark. (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 41In 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 42A southbound Northeast Regional train at Kingston Station (from Rhode Island)
Image 43Topographic map of Rhode Island (from Rhode Island)
Image 44The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority operates a statewide system of bus transport. (from Rhode Island)
Image 45Providence Revolutionaries burned HMS Gaspee in Warwick in protest of British customs laws. (from Rhode Island)
Image 46The Rhode Island State House in Providence boasts the world's fourth largest self-supported marble dome. (from Rhode Island)
Image 47The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport (from Rhode Island)
Image 48The United States Naval Academy was moved to Fort Adams in Newport during the Civil War. (from Rhode Island)
Image 49The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge (foreground) and Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (background)
Image 50The 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.