Rhode Island Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Rhode Island trivia? Try our list Rhode Island little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Hank Soar (1914-2001) of Pawtucket (pop. 72,958) began his athletic career playing football for the New York Giants, catching the game-winning touchdown pass in the NFL Championship Game in 1938. Soar went on to a long career as a major league baseball umpire.

first appeared: 11/1/2009

Founded in 1812, the Rhode Island Medical Society in Providence is the eighth oldest organization of its kind in the nation. Among its vast collection of medical books and periodicals, donated to Brown University, is a 1501 edition of a work by Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist and philosopher.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

The stories of French-Canadian immigrants, who came to work in the mills and factories of Woonsocket (pop. 43,224) from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries, are told in historical displays, movies, photos and interactive audio presentations at the Museum of Work and Culture, operated by the Rhode Island Historical Society.

first appeared: 10/4/2009

The Bristol (pop. 22,469) Train of Artillery, which dates to about 1843, is a museum that exhibits rare examples of antique weapons, military artifacts, photographs and wartime memorabilia.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

Keith Carney, born in 1970 in Providence, played on the 1998 U.S. Olympic hockey team and in the National Hockey League, competing in 1,018 games, during which he scored 45 goals and provided 183 assists for 228 points.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

Founded in 1986, Rhode Island Novelty (RINCO), based in Cumberland (pop. 31,840), is the nation's leading importer and wholesale distributor of novelty toys.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

Earlier this year, the town of Portsmouth (pop. 17,149) erected its second wind turbine on the property of Portsmouth High School. The turbine generates electricity for the school through the National Grid. The town's first wind turbine-also the first in the state-was installed on the grounds of Portsmouth Abbey School.

first appeared: 8/9/2009

The International Yacht Restoration School in Newport (pop. 26,475) is among a handful of trade schools in the nation that teach traditional wooden boatbuilding. Also known for restoring yachts, the school has produced modern shipwrights and system technicians, and is considered an important training ground for New England's growing marine industry.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—The Carousel Performing Arts Center, which was converted into a function hall from a building designed to house a carousel, lies within the nearly 500-acre Goddard Memorial Park in Warwick (pop. 85,808).

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—Built in 1874, Southeast Lighthouse on Block Island has seen many changes, but the most dramatic came in 1993, when the 2,000-ton lighthouse was hydraulically lifted and transported via rail more than 300 feet inland to prevent it from falling into the ocean. Erosion had worn the cliff edge to within 55 feet of the building.

first appeared: 6/28/2009

—In June of 1989, an oil spill off the coast of Newport (pop. 26,475) occurred during peak spawning time for shellfish and fish in Narragansett Bay. Since then, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the state have been working to enhance the habitat by restoring eelgrass beds, lobster reefs and quahog beds.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—Potowomut, or "land of fires" in the language of the Narragansett Indians who hunted and fished in the area in the summer, is a section of Warwick (pop. 85,808) that lies on a peninsula.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—The Cavanagh Co., a maker of communion bread, is a family-owned business located in Greenville (pop. 8,626). Cavanagh makes the majority of communion wafers used in the United States.

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—Dave Gavitt served as head basketball coach of the Providence College Friars from 1969 to 1979, achieving a 209-84 record. In 1973 he led the Friars to the school's first Final Four berth. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–Kingston Station was built in 1875 in the village of West Kingston and continues to be used today by Amtrak riders. The Friends of Kingston Station were instrumental in preserving the building and restoring it following a fire in 1988.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—The official state bird, adopted in 1954, is a chicken called the "Rhode Island Red" because of its red feathers.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—The Daggett House, built in 1685, is the oldest standing house in Pawtucket (pop. 72,958). The eight generations of Daggetts who have lived in the house are descendants of John Daggett, who came to America in 1630.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

—Scituate (pop. 10,324) was named after a town in Massachusetts, from which residents left in 1710 to relocate in Rhode Island. In 1730, Scituate lands were severed from Providence, and in 1731 Scituate was incorporated.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—World War II Memorial State Park in Woonsocket (pop. 43,224) boasts a pond where people can swim in the middle of the city.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—The Job Armstrong Store in Chepachet, a village of Glocester (pop. 9,948), was the largest of the 13 dry goods stores in the village in the early 1800s. The building, purchased in 1971 by the Glocester Heritage Society, was restored and converted into a museum, visitor center and headquarters for the society.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

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