Rhode Island - School-Age
Rhode Island
13th State (May 29, 1790), the northeast U.S. New England Region.
State Abbreviation: RI
Capital: Providence
Origin of name: From the Greek Island of Rhodes.
Named by Dutch explorer Adrian Block. He named it "Roodt Eylandt" meaning "red island" in reference to the red clay that lined the shore. The name was later anglicized when the region came under British rule.
Motto: "Hope"
Nickname: The Ocean State (official), Little Rhody, The Plantation State, The Smallest State, Land of Roger Williams, The Southern Gateway to New England.
Rhode Island State Symbols
Rhode Island: State Seal
Appetizer: Calamari - squid served as food.
Beverage: Coffee milk
Bird: Rhode Island Red Chicken
Fish: Striped Bass
Flower: VioletFolk Art: Charles I.D. Looff Carousel
Fruit: Greening Apple
Mineral: Bowenite
Rock: Cuberlandite
Shell: Quahog
Song : "Rhode Island It's For Me"
Tree: Red Maple
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Things to Know
United States Senators from Rhode Island.
Rhode Island is one of the original 13 colonies.
Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union.
Rhode Island has the longest official name of any of the states: "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations". (History of Rhode Island)
Rhode Island is only 37 miles wide and 48 miles long. It is notable that its shoreline on Narragansett Bay in the Atlantic Ocean runs for 400 miles. Nearly one tenth of Rhode Island's inland area is covered by salt water, in Rhode Island you are never far from the coast.
Fort Adams is the largest coastal fortification in the U.S.
Major Lake: Scituate Reservoir
Bordering Bodies of Water: Atlantic Ocean, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island Sound.
Narragansett Bay is an estuary ( a partially enclosed body of water along the coast where freshwater from rivers and streams meets and mixes with salt water from the ocean).
Famous Rhode Islanders
Roger Williams was an English clergyman who, in 1636, found the first permanent European settlement in Rhode Island. This settlement, called "Providence Plantations" was the first organized colony in America to be founded on the principles of freedom of thought and worship.
Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), Revolutionary War general and George Washington's second in command.
Gilbert Stuart (1755 - 1828), painted portraits and is considered America's foremost portraitists. He painted the portrait of George Washington that is printed on the $1 bill.
Nap Lajoie (1874 - 1959), Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Things to Do
