⛵Rhode Island

The Ocean State

Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state by area — just 48 miles north to south and 37 miles east to west — and has the longest official name of any state: "the State of Rhode Island." It was the first colony to declare independence from Britain (May 4, 1776) and the last of the thirteen original states to ratify the Constitution (May 29, 1790). Despite its size, it has 400 miles of coastline.

Roger Williams and Religious Freedom

Rhode Island was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Puritan minister banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious views. He purchased land from the Narragansett people and founded Providence as a refuge for religious dissenters. Anne Hutchinson, another Massachusetts exile, founded nearby Portsmouth the following year. Rhode Island became the first colony in the English-speaking world to guarantee full religious freedom and separation of church and state — a century and a half before the U.S. Constitution did so nationally.

First and Last

Rhode Island declared its independence from Britain on May 4, 1776 — two months before the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. But it was deeply skeptical of the U.S. Constitution, refusing even to send delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It did not ratify the Constitution until May 29, 1790 — the last of the thirteen original states to do so, and only then by a margin of two votes.

Newport and Mansions

Newport, a colonial-era trading port, became the Gilded Age summer retreat of America's wealthiest families — Vanderbilts, Astors, Belmonts. Their ocean-front "cottages" along Bellevue Avenue — The Breakers, Marble House, Rosecliff — were in fact European-inspired mansions and are now open to the public. Newport is also home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame and was long the site of the America's Cup sailing races.

Industry and Small-State Life

Rhode Island was an early center of the American Industrial Revolution. Samuel Slater built the first successful water-powered textile mill in Pawtucket in 1790, bringing British industrial technology to America. The state is today highly urban and densely populated, with most of its population living within the Providence metropolitan area. Brown University, founded in 1764, and the Rhode Island School of Design are both in Providence.

Rhode Island Facts

• Rhode Island is not an island. It has several islands in Narragansett Bay, but the bulk of the state is mainland.
• The full official name of the state until 2020 was "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." Voters removed "Providence Plantations" in a 2020 referendum.
• The Rhode Island Red chicken is a heritage breed developed in the state in the 1800s and is the official state bird.
• The smallest state has the longest coastline-to-area ratio of any state in the country.
• Rhode Island hosts the first circus to perform in the United States (1774) and claims the oldest continuously operated tavern in the country (White Horse Tavern, Newport, 1673).

🗺️ Nearby States

Continue exploring neighboring states:

→ Browse all 50 states