Also see Specific Destinations, Travel and Location Humor.

Quotes

• Holiday in Rhode Island
• Road to Rhode Island
• Rhode Island Road Trip
• Summer in Rhode Island
• Welcome to Rhode Island

Quotes

• Block Island is a delightfully wild place of steep hills and flower-covered moors dotted with the homes of summer residents. (Walter Cronkite)
• One hundred years after the declaration that all men are created equal, there began to gather in Newport a colony of the rich, determined to show that some Americans were conspicuously more equal than others. (Alistair Cooke)
• The place of exciting innovation--where the action is--that's Rhode Island! (Donald L Carcieri)

Rhode Island Symbols

• Nicknames: Little Rhody; The Ocean State; The Plantation State; The Southern Gateway of New England
• Motto: Hope
• Colors: blue, white and gold
• Song: Rhode Island's It for Me (words and music by Charlie Hall)
• March: Rhode Island
• Bird: Rhode Island Red
• Tree: Red Maple
• Flower: Violet
• Mineral: Bowenite (antigorite)
• Rock: Cumberlandite
• Beverage: Coffee Milk (cold milk with coffee-flavored syrup added)
• Fruit: Rhode Island Greening Apple

Facts About Rhode Island

• Capital: Providence
• Residents: Rhode Islanders
• State Name Origin: from a Dutch phrase meaning "red island" or from the Greek Island of Rhodes
• Admitted to Statehood: 29 May 1790
• Order of Admission: 13th state
• Coastline/Shoreline: 40/384 miles
• Length: 40 miles
• Width: 30 miles
• Area: 1,545 square miles
• Size Rank: 50
• Number of Counties: 5
• Streams and Rivers: 1,392 miles
• Geographic Center: 1 mile SSW of Crompton in Kent Co.
• Mean Elevation: 200 feet
• Highest Point: Jerimoth Hill, 812 feet
• Lowest Point: Atlantic coast, sea level
• Commercial Products: metal manufacture and fabrication, jewelry, silverware, textiles, toys, electronic equipment
• Average Annual Rainfall: 41.9 inches
• Average Winter High Temperature: 29 degrees
• Record Low Temperature: -25 degrees (5 Feb 1996 Greene)
• Average Summer High Temperature: 82 degrees
• Record High Temperature: 104 degrees (2 Aug 1975 Providence)
• Official Language: English
• More information about Rhode Island

Items of Interest

• The largest manufacturer of silverware in the world is in Providence.
• Judge Darius Baker imposed the first jail sentence for speeding in an automobile on August 28, 1904 in Newport.
• Polo was played for the first time in the United States in 1876 near Newport.
• Rhode Island was home to the first National Lawn Tennis Championship in 1899.
• St. Mary's, Rhode Island's oldest Roman Catholic parish, was the site of the wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier to John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1953.
• Rhode Island was home to the first open golf tournament in 1895.
• Rhode Island has no county government. It is divided into 39 municipalities each having its own form of local government.
• The Flying Horse Carousel, located in Watch Hill, is the nation's oldest carousel.
• The first circus in the United States was in Newport in 1774.
• Rhode Island's official name is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
• The Industrial Revolution started in 1790 with the construction of Samuel Slater's water-powered cotton mill in Pawtucket.
• Little Compton is the location of the grave of the first girl born to colonists in New England--the daughter of pilgrims John and Priscilla Alden.
• The White Horse Tavern, built in 1673, is the oldest operating tavern in the United States.
• Roger Williams established the First Baptist Church in America in 1638. The existing structure was built in 1775.
• The Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport is the United States' oldest library building.
• Nine Men's Misery Monument in Cumberland is the oldest known veterans monument in the US. It was erected in memory of the colonists killed in Pierce's Fight during King Phillips War in 1676.
• Pelham Street in Newport was the first street in the country to use gas-illuminated street lights.
• The Quonset hut was invented at Quonset Point, a key naval reserve base.
• Portsmouth is home to the oldest schoolhouse in the US--built in 1716.
• Since 1785 Bristol has the longest running, unbroken series of 4th of July Independence Day observances in the country.
• Built in 1763, the Touro Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in North America and houses the oldest Torah in North America.
• The first Afro-American regiment to fight for America made a gallant stand against the British in the Battle of Rhode Island.
• The first torpedo boat "Stiletto" was built in Bristol in 1887.
• Rhode Island was the first American colony to renounce the British king, but the last colony to ratify the Constitution.
• Rhode Islanders were the first to take military action against England by sinking one of her ships in the Narragansett Bay between Newport and Providence.
• The first British troops sent from England to squash the revolution landed in Newport.

Notable Natives

Some of these were born here, others just lived a while in the state.

• Nelson Wilmarth Aldich - politician
• Zachariah Allen - inventor
• Harry Anderson (1951- ) - actor, magician (Newport)
• Nicholas Brown (1729-1791) - helped convince leaders to ratify the Constitution, Brown University was named after him
• William Ellery Channing - clergyman
• George Michael Cohan (1878-1942) - actor, composer, wrote I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy and You're a Grand Old Flag (Providence)
• George William Curtis - author
• Thomas Wilson Dorr - political reformer
• Eddie Dowling - actor, stage producer (Woonscocket)
• Nelson Eddy - singer, actor (Providence)
• Maude Read Farnum - the state's first female banker
• Peter Farrelly - writer, director (Cumberland)
• Charles Gorham - silversmith
• Robert Gray - explorer (Riverton)
• Spalding Gray - author (Barrington)
• Nathaniel Greene - revolutionary war general and hero who defeated Cornwallis, second in command to George Washington but considered to be a more capable general
• Robert Leo "Bobby" Hackett (1915-1976) - jazz trumpeter (Providence)
• David Hartman - television newscaster (Pawtucket)
• Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) - reformer, writer, poet, wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic (lived in Portsmouth and Newport)
• Ruth Hussey - actress (Providence)
• Thomas H. Ince - film producer (Newport)
• Wilbur John - religious leader
• Van Johnson - actor (Newport)
• Galway Kinnell - poet (Providence)
• Oliver LaFarge - author
• Napoleon "Larry" Lajoie (1874-1959) - baseball player (Woonsocket)
• Irvine R. Levine - news correspondent (Pawtucket)
• Ida Lewis - lighthouse keeper (Newport)
• Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) - science fiction author (Providence)
• Horace Mann (1796-1859) - known as "Father of American public education"
• John McLaughlin - broadcaster
• Dana C. Munro - educator, historian
• Matthew C. Perry - naval officer (South Kingstown)
• Oliver H. Perry - naval officer
• Anthony Quinn - actor
• Samuel Slater (1768-1835) - inventor (came to RI in 1780)
• Gilbert Charles Stuart (1755-1828) - artist, painted the George Washington that is on the dollar bill
• Stephen Wilcox - inventor (Westerly)
• Jemima Wilkinson - religious leader (Cumberland)
• Roger Williams (1603-1683) - Puritan leader, founder of Rhode Island, originator of the concepts and principles in The First Amendment
• Sarah H. Wittman - poet
• Leonard Woodcock - labor union official (Providence)

The Rhode Island State Flag
Rhode Island didn't officially adopted their state flag until 1879 but it was similar to flags that had been used even before it became a state. The background of the flag is white. In the center is a gold anchor surrounded by a circle of thirteen gold stars representing the first thirteen states. The states motto " Hope" is on a blue ribbon banner below the anchor.

You know you are from Rhode Island if...

• You celebrate your "birt-day"
• You had a "wickit" good time at the beach.
• When you hear an amazing fact your immediate reply is "no suh!"
• You can drive two miles without seeing a Bess Eaton
• You know the difference between red, white and clear chowdah
• You consider a car journey of longer than one hour a day trip.
• You can curse in Italian.
• You know the basic rules of DuckPin bowling.
• You own garden tools from Job Lot.
• You have tried to drive the measured mile in less then 45 seconds.
• You know what the expression "side by each" means.
• You have used the expression "Not For Nuthin" or "bubbla".
• You serve bread with every meal.
• You know what "3 all the way" means.
• You load up on milk and bread before a snowstorm.
• You feel compelled to hear at least one weather report a day.
• You understand the humor of the Ocean State Follies.
• You have pulled out of a side street and used your car to block oncoming traffic so you could make a left-hand turn.
• You consider your holiday season incomplete without a trip to Lasalette Shrine.
• You have a bottle of coffee syrup in the fridge right now.
• You've phoned into a talk show on WPRO or WHJJ.
• You have given a bottle of Sakonnet wine as a gift.
• You've gotten sick from eating too many clam cakes.
• You own at least one coffee table book with a picture of a lighthouse on it.
• You've boasted about the money you saved at the Christmas Tree Shop.
• Your first live concert was at the Civic Center or Rocky Point.
• You own a hat with a red "P" on it.
• You were born at Lying-In Hospital.
• You still call the Rhode Island Mall the Midland Mall.
• You have close relatives who work for the state.
• You've gone to "Legs and Eggs".
• You have used a demolished landmark when giving directions.
• You secretly watch "Providence" even though you tell your friends you don't.
• You have slammed on your breaks to discourage a tailgater.
• You know what a burger "The Newport Creamery Way" is.
• You have dated a girl named Brenda or a guy named Vinnie.
• You have used the breakdown lane on 95 to pass someone.
• You've personally met Vinnie Paz.
• Your idea of a dream house is a raised ranch.
• You have relatives who have been to Edgehill Newport, Codac, or Butler.
• You have driven more than five miles out of your way to save less than two bucks.
• You been on a RIPTA bus less than twelve times in the past six years.
• You can sing the Rocky Point theme song.
• You know what a "governor-preferred" plate is.
• You know someone who works for the Registry.
• You've asked your mechanic for an inspection sticker even though your car failed to pass.
• You have a degree from RIC, CCRI or URI.
• You think vodka and Del's is a great combination.
• You've been to Twin Oaks for your birthday.
• You've borrowed dealer plates from a friend.
• You know how to pronounce Pawtucket, Cowesett, Usqepaug, and Narragansett.
• You've been to Scarborough Beach but not Block Island.
• You know where "The Pier" is located.
• You've been on a Bay Queen cruise.
• You can recognize a Cranston accent.
• You think high hair, gold chains, and gum go together.
• You think there's a "v" in the name Cheryl.
• You drop the "w" in Greenwich, Kingstown, and Warwick.
• You use the expression "down-city" for downtown.
• You've eaten at Haven Brothers.
• You celebrate St. Joseph's Day and know what a "zeppolla" is.
• You have at least one gallon of Newport Creamery coffee ice cream in your freezer.
• You know what "ProJo" stands for.
• You still call CCRI "reject".
• You know who Jack Comly, Sara Wye and Sherm Strickhauser are.
• Your city house and your beach house are less than an hour away from each other.
• You know the original name for Airport Road.
• You always start giving directions by saying, "Well, you get on 95"
• You know where "NiRoPe" comes from.
• You know what "John from Alpert's" sounds like.
• You can recite the license plates of all your family members and friends.
• You know where "Harvard on the Hill" is located.
• You refer to the movies as the Show.
• You know what a "package store" is.
• You think lots of gold jewelry looks great on the beach.
• Your favorite expressions are, "Are you serious?", "Wicked", and "You know what I'm saying?"
• You know you need "quahogs" to make "stuffies".
• You know there's a West End but not a West Providence.
• You think banana, vanilla, and idea all end in "r".
• You put vinegar on your french fries.
• You've eaten at Haven Brothers, drunk.
• You know what Allie's makes.
• You've gone to Cumbie's for milk or gas. (HAHAHAHA Cumbie's!!)
• You know that there is never any school in Fosta-Glosta when it snows.
• The girl you ended up marrying lived no more than six blocks from where you grew up.
• You've converted the basement of your house into an apartment.
• You call spaghetti sauce, "gravy."
• You tell friends that something is "on special", instead of on sale.
• The meal at every wedding you've ever attended was chicken, shells and french fries.
• You put celery salt on your hot dogs.
• You are never from Providence, or East Providence, but from the East Side, Rumford or Riverside
• You order an iced coffee in December.
• You read the wedding announcements in the Sunday Pro-Jo and recognize at least three couples.
• The seltzer guy delivers bottles to your home on a weekly basis.
• People at work wish you a "Happy St. Joseph's Day!
• Your holiday season isn't complete without a trip to LaSallette Shrine.
• You know someone who knew the Farrelly brothers when they lived around here.
• You know exactly which parts of Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Meet Joe Black and Amistad were filmed in RI, and you can tell someone exactly where that is.
• You know what the Coffee Cup Salute is, and who does it every morning.
• You grew up with everyone you see at Stop and Shop.
• You know where South County is, even though it doesn't exist.
• You and everyone you know are either Italian or Irish, or both.
• You've never been farther south than Jersey, and not farther West than there, either, but are planning to move to Florida as soon as you turn 60.
• You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Rhode Island.

Songs about Rhode Island

• Exeter, Rhode Island - Jennifer O'Connor (2006)
• Holiday in Rhode Island - The Softies (2000)
• Poor Little Rhode Island - Dale Hawkins (1960)
• Rhode Island - David Van Buskirk (2008)
• Rhode Island Bride - The Acousticats (1991)
• Rhode Island Girl - Roger Len Smith (2009)
• Rhode Island is Famous for You - Kristi Merideth (2009)
• Rhode Island Redhead - Teresa Brewer (1952)
• Summer in Rhode Island - Dakota Oak (2000)
• Summertime in Rhode Island - Someday Providence (2006)
• Sweet Rhode Island Red - Ike and Tina Turner (1974)

Songs about New England

• Homesick for New England - Roger Williams (1960)
• Weekend in New England - Barry Manilow (1976)
• When Fall Comes to New England - Cheryl Wheeler (1992)
• Whoever's in New England - Reba McEntire (1986)