97 Fun Facts About Rhode Island

Rhode Island is the smallest state; which state is second smallest by area?

Delaware, at roughly 2,490 square miles, is the second-smallest state; Rhode Island covers about 1,214 square miles and Connecticut about 5,540.

What is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island?

Providence was named by Roger Williams for 'God's merciful providence' in guiding him there after his banishment; it is both Rhode Island's capital and its most populous city.

The official motto of Rhode Island is a single word. What is it?

The state motto of Rhode Island is 'Hope,' a word that also appears on the state seal and flag.

What flower was officially adopted as Rhode Island's state flower in 1968?

The violet had been voted in by schoolchildren back in 1897, but the state did not make it official until 1968, the last state in the country to adopt a flower.

What tree is recognized as Rhode Island's official state tree?

The Red Maple, known for its vibrant fall foliage, was officially adopted as the state tree in 1964.

Rhode Island's welcome sign carries what official nickname, earned by its bays and coast?

'The Ocean State' is the nickname on Rhode Island's welcome signs; Narragansett Bay and about 400 miles of tidal shoreline give the smallest state its maritime identity.

In what year was Providence, the first permanent settlement in Rhode Island, founded by Roger Williams?

Roger Williams established Providence in 1636 after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, seeking a haven for religious freedom.

Samuel Gorton's 1642 purchase of Shawomet grew into which Rhode Island city?

Warwick began as Shawomet, land Samuel Gorton bought from sachem Miantonomi in 1642; the settlement took its present name in 1648 in honour of the Earl of Warwick.

In what year did Rhode Island voters drop 'and Providence Plantations' from the state's name?

In November 2020, Rhode Islanders voted to remove 'and Providence Plantations' from the state's official name, shortening it to 'State of Rhode Island.'

Which river forms the southern stretch of the Rhode Island–Connecticut border at Westerly?

The Pawcatuck River separates Westerly, Rhode Island, from Stonington, Connecticut, before emptying into Little Narragansett Bay; the rest of the Connecticut line runs overland.

What is the highest natural point in Rhode Island?

Jerimoth Hill, standing at 812 feet above sea level, is the highest natural point in the state of Rhode Island.

How many municipalities, cities and towns together, make up Rhode Island?

Rhode Island is divided into 39 municipalities: eight cities, including Providence and Warwick, and 31 towns such as Bristol and Westerly.

Which exiled Massachusetts dissenter settled Aquidneck Island in 1638, founding what became Portsmouth?

Anne Hutchinson, banished by Massachusetts Bay in 1638 for her religious views, joined the founding of Pocasset on Aquidneck Island; the settlement was later renamed Portsmouth.

In what month and year did Rhode Island become the first colony to renounce allegiance to King George III?

Rhode Island renounced allegiance to King George III on May 4, 1776, two months before the Declaration of Independence.

Which fish did Rhode Island designate its official state fish in 2000?

Rhode Island named the striped bass its official state fish in 2000; the prized sport fish runs along Narragansett Bay and the south shore each summer.

Which 70-room Newport mansion, built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II in the 1890s, is the grandest of the city's Gilded Age summer 'cottages'?

The Breakers has 70 rooms and was built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1893–95; Newport's rich called such palaces 'cottages' because they only summered there.

Brown University, one of America's oldest, was founded in Rhode Island in what year?

Brown University, originally known as 'The College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,' was founded in 1764.

Which fried seafood dish became the state's official appetizer in 2014, honouring its squid fleet?

Calamari, often served fried, was designated the official state appetizer of Rhode Island in 2014, reflecting the state's significant squid fishing industry.

Which bay, cutting Rhode Island nearly in two, did Giovanni da Verrazzano sail past in 1524, comparing an island there to Rhodes?

Verrazzano's comparison of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay to Greek Rhodes is one theory for the state's name; the bay cuts so deep that the state has 400 miles of coastline.

What is the official state shell of Rhode Island?

The quahaug is a hard-shelled clam; its name comes from the Narragansett word poquauhock, and its shells were once worked into wampum beads.

Which Rhode Island city's casino hosted the first US Championships in 1881 and now houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame?

Newport's 1881 tournament was the ancestor of the US Open; the Hall of Fame occupies the Newport Casino, a Gilded Age social club rather than a gambling house.

What is the official state mineral of Rhode Island, a relative of jade?

Bowenite, a semi-precious gemstone closely related to jade, is the official state mineral of Rhode Island.

Rhode Island's State House dome is the world's fourth-largest self-supporting dome of which material?

327,000 cubic feet of white Georgia marble went into the building, along with 15 million bricks and 1,309 tons of iron floor beams.

What is Rhode Island's only telephone area code?

Rhode Island has been served by a single area code, 401, since the original 1947 numbering plan; neighbouring Connecticut uses 203 and southeastern Massachusetts 508.

What is Rhode Island's official state rock, a dark rock with white markings?

Cumberlandite, a dark rock with white markings, is unique to Rhode Island and was adopted as its official state rock.

In what order did Rhode Island ratify the US Constitution and join the Union?

Rhode Island was the last of the original Thirteen Colonies to ratify the U.S. Constitution and become the 13th state, doing so on May 29, 1790.

Which Narragansett Bay island, home to Newport, is the 'Rhode Island' the state was named for?

Aquidneck is the island's Narragansett name; colonists called it Rhode Island, and the name spread to the whole colony.

Which Native American tribe traditionally inhabited Rhode Island and sold land to Roger Williams?

Roger Williams purchased the land for Providence from the Narragansett sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi.

What 1772 event saw colonists burn a British customs schooner in Narragansett Bay?

The Gaspee Affair in 1772, where Rhode Island colonists burned the British revenue schooner Gaspee, was a significant act of defiance leading up to the American Revolution.

What is the gilded statue atop the Rhode Island State House dome called?

'The Independent Man', a gold-leafed bronze figure by George T. Brewster holding a spear, has crowned the State House dome in Providence since 1899 as an emblem of the state's independent spirit.

Which Providence art event lights nearly a hundred bonfires on braziers in the three rivers that run through downtown?

WaterFire began in 1994 as a one-off by artist Barnaby Evans and now runs on many summer and autumn evenings, with nearly one hundred bonfires burning on the rivers to a soundtrack of world music.

Which famous American author, known for his horror fiction, was born in Providence, Rhode Island?

Horror fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and many of his stories are set in or inspired by New England.

What body of water separates Aquidneck Island (Rhode Island) from the mainland to its east?

The Sakonnet River is a tidal strait that separates Aquidneck Island from the eastern mainland of Rhode Island.

Which of these is NOT one of Rhode Island's five counties?

Suffolk County is in Massachusetts, home of Boston; Rhode Island's five are Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence and Washington, and none of them has a government of its own.

What is the state's official song, adopted in 1996?

'Rhode Island's It for Me', with words by Charlie Hall, became the official state song in 1996; the earlier official song, 'Rhode Island', was reclassified as the state march.

Which body of water forms Rhode Island's southern border?

The Atlantic Ocean, reached through Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound, is the southern border; the state also shares a short sea boundary with New York, east of Long Island.

Which Aquidneck Island town holds Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge?

Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge occupies a rocky peninsula at the southeastern corner of Middletown, beside Second Beach, and is known for the harlequin ducks that winter offshore.

Which two states share a land border with Rhode Island?

Connecticut and Massachusetts are the only land neighbours, to the west and to the north and east; New York touches only at sea, east of Long Island, which is why it does not count.

Providence's 'Mile of History' of colonial and Federal-style buildings lines which street?

Benefit Street's 'Mile of History' was rescued by a 1950s preservation push; its Golden Ball Inn once hosted George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Colonial Newport's candle makers grew rich on candles made from which whale product?

Spermaceti, the waxy substance from a sperm whale's head, made the brightest candles of the era; Newport merchants such as Aaron Lopez dominated the trade and formed a price cartel in 1761.

Which locally developed fruit variety was adopted as the official state fruit in 1991?

The Greening Apple — the Rhode Island Greening, a tart green baking variety first raised in Newport in the 1600s — became the official state fruit in 1991.

The official seal of Rhode Island prominently features what maritime symbol?

The anchor, adopted as the colony's seal by the General Assembly in 1647 and probably inspired by the 'anchor of the soul' line in Hebrews, appears in gold on Rhode Island's seal and flag.

Rhode Island is the second-most densely populated state in the U.S. after which other state?

New Jersey, at roughly 1,260 people per square mile in the 2020 census, edges Rhode Island's roughly 1,060; California, New York and Florida are all far less crowded.

Which of these major educational institutions is NOT located in Providence?

While Brown University, RISD, and Johnson & Wales University have campuses in Providence, the main campus of the University of Rhode Island is located in Kingston.

In what year did Rhode Island adopt its flag design of a gold anchor ringed by 13 stars?

Earlier official flags from 1877 and 1882 had 38 stars for the whole Union; the 1897 redesign cut them to thirteen for the original colonies.

Who was the first governor appointed under the Rhode Island Royal Charter in 1663?

Benedict Arnold, the great-grandfather of the infamous Revolutionary War traitor, was the first governor appointed under Rhode Island's Royal Charter in 1663.

Which river's North Branch was dammed in the 1920s to form the Scituate Reservoir?

The Scituate Reservoir was created by damming the North Branch of the Pawtuxet River; the Gainer Dam was completed in 1926, and the river reaches Narragansett Bay at Pawtuxet Village.

What is the official state marine mammal of Rhode Island?

The Harbor Seal was adopted as Rhode Island's official state marine mammal in 2016.

Samuel Slater built his water-powered cotton mill in 1793 on the Blackstone River in which Rhode Island town?

Pawtucket's Slater Mill, built from English designs Slater carried in his memory, is considered the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution; the Blackstone Valley is now a National Historical Park.

What, about 12 miles offshore, is coterminous with the town of New Shoreham?

Block Island lies about 12 miles off Point Judith, whose ferries serve it year-round; the General Assembly incorporated it in 1672 under the town name New Shoreham.

What national milestone did a five-turbine project off Block Island reach in 2016?

The Block Island Wind Farm, five turbines totaling 30 MW, began operating in December 2016 as the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States; its cable also ended the island's reliance on diesel generators.

The 150-foot clay cliffs on Block Island's south shore carry what name?

Mohegan Bluffs take their name from a Mohegan war party that Block Island's Manisseans drove over the cliffs around 1590; erosion has since forced the Southeast Lighthouse to be moved inland in 1993.

In what year was the Newport Jazz Festival first held, at the Newport Casino?

The first Newport Jazz Festival was held over two days in July 1954 at the Newport Casino, financed by Elaine and Louis Lorillard and produced by George Wein; it moved to Fort Adams in 1981.

Whose electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival shaped later folk rock?

Bob Dylan's electric set on 25 July 1965, backed by Mike Bloomfield and members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, drew boos from folk purists and became a turning point toward folk rock.

Touro in Newport, dedicated in 1763, holds what national distinction?

Touro Synagogue, dedicated in 1763 for Newport's Jeshuat Israel congregation, is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the U.S.; George Washington's 1790 letter to it championed religious liberty.

The Claiborne Pell Bridge to Newport is New England's longest bridge of what type?

The Claiborne Pell (Newport) Bridge, opened in 1969 with a 1,601-foot main span, is New England's longest suspension bridge, carrying Route 138 from Newport to Jamestown across the East Passage.

The Dorr Rebellion of 1841-42 was an attempt to force what change in Rhode Island?

The Dorr Rebellion sought broader voting rights: Rhode Island's 1663 charter limited the vote to landholders and their eldest sons, and the constitution adopted after the uprising widened suffrage.

After the 1842 uprising, rebel leader Thomas Wilson Dorr was convicted of what crime?

Thomas Dorr was convicted of treason against Rhode Island in 1844 by the state Supreme Court at Newport and sentenced to life at hard labor in solitary confinement; he was freed in 1845.

Which drink beat Del's Lemonade in 1993 to become Rhode Island's official state drink?

Coffee milk — cold milk stirred with sweet coffee syrup, Autocrat being the classic local brand — became Rhode Island's official state drink on July 29, 1993, edging out Del's frozen lemonade.

Del's frozen lemonade began in 1948 as a pushcart in which Rhode Island city?

Angelo DeLucia opened the first Del's frozen lemonade stand in Cranston in 1948, using a lemon-ice recipe his father Franco had brought from Italy; Cranston stayed the company's home base.

In which Rhode Island town was the Rhode Island Red chicken first bred?

The Rhode Island Red was developed in the Adamsville section of Little Compton in the mid-1800s; a 1954 monument there marks the breed's centenary.

Which Fortune 500 pharmacy giant has its corporate headquarters in Woonsocket?

CVS Health, founded in 1963 as Consumer Value Stores in Lowell, Massachusetts, keeps its corporate headquarters at One CVS Drive in Woonsocket, on the Blackstone River near the Massachusetts line.

The U.S. Navy's 'Home of Thought', founded 1884 at Newport, is known as what?

The Naval War College, founded by Commodore Stephen B. Luce in 1884, first met in the former Newport Asylum for the Poor on Coasters Harbor Island, a building later named Founders Hall.

Slater Mill in Pawtucket was America's first cotton mill to use whose spinning system?

Samuel Slater reproduced Richard Arkwright's water-frame spinning system from memory after leaving England, where exporting the designs was illegal; his Pawtucket mill was running by 1793.

Which toy company, founded in Providence in 1923 and long based in Pawtucket, makes Transformers?

Hasbro — short for Hassenfeld Brothers — was founded in Providence in 1923 by Herman, Hillel and Henry Hassenfeld, who sold textile remnants before turning to school supplies and toys.

Which toy, invented by George Lerner in 1949, did the Hassenfeld brothers' firm first sell in 1952?

Mr. Potato Head, the first toy advertised on television, originally came as a kit of plastic face parts to push into a real potato; a plastic body arrived in 1964 and the pipe was dropped in 1987.

The 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 at a Great White concert was in which town?

The Station nightclub stood on Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick; pyrotechnics ignited flammable acoustic foam on 20 February 2003 and 100 people died, one of the deadliest nightclub fires in U.S. history.

Providence's longest-serving mayor, who launched a marinara sauce in 1995, was whom?

Vincent 'Buddy' Cianci served over 21 years as Providence mayor across two stints (1975–84 and 1991–2002), each ended by a felony conviction; his 1995 marinara sauce raised money for scholarships.

Senator Claiborne Pell's name is attached to what federal program for college students?

The Basic Educational Opportunity Grants of 1973 were renamed for him in 1980. He also helped create the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.

The December 1675 Great Swamp Fight in South Kingstown was the crucial battle of which war?

King Philip's War, begun in June 1675 when Wampanoag men killed colonists at Swansea, Massachusetts, saw New England militia storm the Narragansett fort in the Great Swamp that December.

The 58-foot 'Big Blue Bug' looming over I-95 in Providence depicts what insect?

Nibbles Woodaway is a 58-foot termite on a pest-control company's roof beside I-95; originally painted purple, the colour of a swarming termite, it faded to blue and kept the nickname.

Rhode Island's tallest building, finished in 1928, is nicknamed after which superhero?

The 26-storey Industrial Trust Building, 428 feet tall and completed in 1928, is nicknamed the 'Superman Building' for its resemblance to the Daily Planet headquarters in the 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series.

Which Rhode Island town claims the nation's oldest continuous Fourth of July celebration?

Bristol's Fourth of July Patriotic Exercises, begun in 1785 by Rev. Henry Wight, are billed as the nation's oldest continuous Independence Day celebration; Lafayette had made the town his headquarters in 1778.

Beavertail Lighthouse, the third light in the Thirteen Colonies, stands on which island?

Beavertail Lighthouse stands at the southern tip of Conanicut Island in Jamestown, guarding the East Passage into Narragansett Bay; the first wooden tower of 1749 was called Newport Light.

The 1778 Battle of Quaker Hill near Newport is noted for which predominantly Black regiment?

The 1st Rhode Island Regiment, recruited largely from enslaved and free Black men under Colonel Christopher Greene, held its line on 29 August 1778 as Sullivan's army withdrew from the siege of Newport.

Warwick-born Quaker general Nathanael Greene commanded which theater for Washington?

Washington gave Nathanael Greene command of the Southern Department in October 1780; his campaigns across the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia wore down Cornwallis before Yorktown.

South Kingstown native Oliver Hazard Perry earned his 'Hero' title where in the War of 1812?

Perry's fleet defeated the British squadron on Lake Erie on 10 September 1813, prompting his report 'We have met the enemy and they are ours'; Congress awarded him a gold medal.

Gilbert Stuart's unfinished 1796 portrait of Washington appears on what?

The Athenaeum Portrait, engraved for the one-dollar bill, has appeared on the note for well over a century; Stuart, born in Saunderstown, left it unfinished and painted dozens of copies from it.

Which Providence-born showman wrote 'Over There' and 'You're a Grand Old Flag'?

George M. Cohan, born in Providence on 3 July 1878 to an Irish-American vaudeville family, wrote 'Over There' and 'You're a Grand Old Flag'; James Cagney won an Oscar playing him in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).

EGOT winner Viola Davis grew up and began acting in which Rhode Island city?

Viola Davis's family moved to Central Falls soon after her 1965 birth in South Carolina; at 1.29 square miles it is the smallest and most densely populated city in Rhode Island.

When was the 1663 Royal Charter that Charles II granted Rhode Island finally replaced?

Rhode Island adopted a new constitution in 1843 after the Dorr Rebellion, retiring the 1663 charter, by then the oldest written charter still governing anywhere; the original is displayed at the State House.

Marble House, the Newport 'cottage' finished in 1892, was built for which couple?

Marble House was William K. Vanderbilt's 39th-birthday gift to Alva, designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Beaux-Arts style; after their 1895 divorce Alva hosted women's suffrage rallies there.

Which New York Herald publisher built the Newport Casino in 1879-81?

James Gordon Bennett Jr. commissioned the Newport Casino in 1879 after a friend was barred from the Newport Reading Room; McKim, Mead & White's Shingle-style complex opened in 1880.

How many innings did the 1981 Pawtucket Red Sox game, pro baseball's longest, last?

The 33-inning game began on April 18, 1981 at McCoy Stadium; play was suspended after 32 innings at 4 a.m. and the final inning on June 23 gave Pawtucket a 3-2 win over Rochester.

After the 2020 season, the Pawtucket Red Sox moved to which Massachusetts city?

The Pawtucket Red Sox became the Worcester Red Sox in 2021, opening Polar Park in Worcester; the club had played at McCoy Stadium since 1973 and won four International League titles.

The WWII Quonset hut takes its name from a Navy site in which Rhode Island village?

The huts were first produced in 1941 at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center next to Quonset Point, whose name they took; the design could be shipped anywhere and assembled without skilled labour.

The Providence Friars reached the Final Four in 1973 and which later year?

Billy Donovan, later a two-time national champion coach at Florida, was a player on the 1987 team. The Friars were founding Big East members in 1979.

Which Westerly village has the Flying Horse Carousel and a Taylor Swift mansion?

Watch Hill's Flying Horse Carousel, dating to the 1870s, is the oldest operating carousel of its suspended-horse type in the United States; Taylor Swift bought the village's High Watch mansion in 2013.

What distinguishes Rhode Island clam chowder from the New England and Manhattan styles?

Rhode Island clam chowder has a clear broth: it omits both the cream of the New England style and the tomatoes of the Manhattan style, though some local cooks add tomato sauce anyway.

Rhode Island's hot wieners are sold at restaurants branded with what city's name?

'New York System' was early-20th-century marketing that borrowed Coney Island's hot dog fame; the wieners come with meat sauce, mustard, onions and celery salt, ordered 'all the way'.

Newport Creamery, the Rhode Island chain founded in 1940, is famous for what milkshake?

The Awful Awful — 'awful big, awful good' — is Newport Creamery's signature shake of ice milk and flavoured syrup; the chain's long-running challenge rewarded anyone who finished three with a free fourth.

Who became Rhode Island's first woman governor in 2015, later U.S. Commerce Secretary?

Gina Raimondo, born in Smithfield, took office in January 2015 as Rhode Island's first woman governor and left in March 2021 to become U.S. Commerce Secretary under President Biden.

What hangs from the centre of the gateway arch over Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill?

A pine cone, La Pigna, hangs there as a traditional Italian symbol of welcome and abundance, though locals often mistake it for a pineapple; the arch marks Providence's Little Italy.

In what year did Providence's Roger Williams Park Zoo, among the nation's oldest, open?

Roger Williams Park Zoo opened in 1872 inside Providence's Roger Williams Park, starting with a modest menagerie of raccoons, rabbits, peacocks and anteaters; it is among the oldest zoos in the United States.

How many members sit in the Rhode Island House of Representatives?

The Rhode Island House has 75 members and the Senate 38, sizes set by a 2003 downsizing from 100 and 50; the General Assembly meets at the State House on Smith Hill in Providence.

Which Rhode Island officer was the only commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy?

Esek Hopkins was named commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy in December 1775 and dismissed in 1778, leaving him the only man to hold the post; his brother Stephen Hopkins signed the Declaration of Independence.

Rhode Island alone still observes which WWII holiday, officially called 'Victory Day'?

It falls on the second Monday of August. Elsewhere the observance faded after the war; Rhode Island kept it on the calendar.