Rhode Island Trivia & Tidbits - Page 12

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

Ann & Hope, the first discount department store in this country, opened in 1953 in Cumberland (pop. 31,840). The company offered self-service and discount prices.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) became the first woman to establish a town in America when she left Massachusetts to found Portsmouth (pop. 17,149) in 1637.

first appeared: 12/8/2002

Coaster’s Harbor Island in Narragansett Bay was once home to The Newport Asylum for the Poor. Built in 1822, the asylum was converted into the Naval War College in 1884, and the island is still used as a naval training center.

first appeared: 12/1/2002

The first European to be born in Rhode Island was Matthew Borden. He was born in Portsmouth on May 16, 1638, and died in 1708.

first appeared: 11/24/2002

The state’s first census, taken in 1708, counted a population of 7,181 souls. Its population today is just over 1 million, making it 43rd in number of residents in the 50 states.

first appeared: 11/17/2002

Native Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), known mainly for his painting of George Washington, earned a reputation as a portraitist in England and Ireland before returning to America to paint this country’s great patriots.

first appeared: 11/10/2002

Rhode Island has more than 20 lights—but perhaps the state’s most visible is Pomham Rocks Light in the Providence River. Built in 1871, the lighthouse housed light keepers until 1974, when it was automated.

first appeared: 11/3/2002

One of this nation’s first female “doctors” was Sarah Walker Sands (1645-1726), who provided the only medical care available on Block Island. She ran a hospital from her home following her arrival there in 1660.

first appeared: 10/27/2002

Nathaniel Greene, a leader in the American Revolution, was allowed by the Colonial legislature to raise and command a 1,500-man “army of observation” just a week after the skirmishes at Concord and Lexington in 1775.

first appeared: 10/20/2002

Although much of the state is on the mainland, Rhode Island takes its name from the largest island in Narragansett Bay. The island’s largest town is Newport (pop. 26,475).

first appeared: 10/13/2002

A number of towns along the state’s southern coast have American Indian names, including Misquamicut, Weekapaug, Quonochontaug, Matunuck, and Narragansett.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

Rhode Island was the only colony to operate under a constitutional government from the very beginning. No royal governor was ever appointed by the British Crown.

first appeared: 9/29/2002

Founded in 1837, Rhode Island’s American Band is one of America’s oldest civilian concert bands. The entire band joined up during the Civil War and during the Battle of Bull Run suffered a single casualty—the loss of its bass drum during the Union retreat.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

The state is one of only six that provides no official residence for its governor—a fact that may be accounted for by Rhode Island’s size: No home anywhere in the state is more than 50 miles from the capital.

first appeared: 9/15/2002

Goat Island near Newport became home to a Naval Torpedo Station in 1869, to serve as the U.S. Navy’s experimental center for the development of undersea torpedoes.

first appeared: 9/8/2002

Despite its name, the state is not an island. Instead it is 36 small islands and one big mainland, almost cut in two by Narragansett Bay.

first appeared: 9/1/2002

The state’s official name is State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the latter part of the name dating back to a charter granted by the King of England in 1643.

first appeared: 8/25/2002

Rhode Island is the second most densely populated state in the nation (after New Jersey), with more than 60 percent of its residents living in or near Providence.

first appeared: 8/18/2002

Gray’s Store in Adamsville village in Little Compton (pop. 3,593) is one of the oldest continuously operating stores in the country. Built in 1788, it contains the old post office, original soda fountain, candy cases with penny candy, vintage clothing, and collectibles.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

Woonsocket, one of the Northeast’s foremost textile manufacturing centers in the 19th century, attracted many French Canadians to work in its mills. By 1900, as many as two-thirds of its residents spoke Quebecois French.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

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