US Postage Stamps // Philatelic Project // The Federal States

          

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Providence, RI // New England Region // Eastern Time
(The Ocean State)
Providence Plantations Colony founded[1]: 1636 by Roger Williams,
religious dissident from Massachusetts Bay Colony, and his followers
at the tip of Narragansett Bay, (Providence settlement)
Rhode Island Colony founded[1]: 1638 by Anne Hutchinson
and other religious dissidents on Aquidneck Island,
(Portsmouth and Newton settlements)
Independence declared: May 4, 1776 as first colony
Union admittance: May 29, 1790 // 13th state
[1] In 1647 both colonies merged and established a unified government.
In 1663 the English King Charles II. (* 1630, r. 1660 , † 1685)
granted charter for all of Rhode Island and Providence.
[Display overwiew of states formed out of the original 13 colonies]

#4319 // August 11, 2011
(self-adhesive coil definitive)
Flags of Our Nation Series
Rhode Island State Flag
and sailboat with a spinnaker
#1991 // April 14, 1982
(ex pane of 50 different stamps)
State Bird & Flower of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Red
and Violet
#1645 // February 23, 1976
(ex pane of 50 different stamps)
American Bicentennial Series
Rhode Island State Flag

#777 // May 4, 1936 // Providence, RI
Founding of Rhode Island Colony
Tercentenary

Statue of Roger Williams (* 1603 , † 1683),
former Puritan minister of Massachusetts,
founder of the Rhode Island colony,
fighter for religiuos freedom and
separation of religion and state 		#2348 // May 29, 1990 // Pwatucket, RI
Rhode Island Statehood,
Ratification of the Constitution
on May 29, 1790 as last colony
Bicentennial

Slater Mill built in 1793, Pawtucket, RI

#3599 // April 4, 2002
(ex pane of 50 stamps, one for each state)
Greetings from Rhode Island

Illustration of contemporary postcard
in the style of the 1930s/1940s

View Rhode Island state quarter
View Rhode Island state map
View Rhode Island clock


The origin of the state name is uncertain and cannot be attributed to one source.
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano (* 1485, † 1528) sailed into Narragansett Bay
in 1524. He shall have said that the land reminds him of the Greek Isle of Rhodes
in the Mediterranean Sea
or
Dutch explorer Adrian Block (* 1567, † 1627) named the region "Roodt Eylandt",
meaning "red island" in reference to the red clay that lined the shore.
However, it is fact that the state is the smallest one (by land area) of the union
but has the longest official name of any of the states. A ballot measure in 2010
asking the voters in Rhode Island to change the official state name
"Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" to simply "Rhode Island"
was defeated by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1.
Find out more facts & trivia
Land Area
rounded mi2 [km2]
1,045 [2.707]
ranked 50th
(smallest of all states) 		Population
(census 2010)
1,052,567
ranked 43rd 		Population Density
per mi2 [km2] of land area
1,018 [389]
ranked 3rd
The State of Rhode Island an Providence Plantations has five counties.


Stamped Cards 

#UX112 // June 26, 1986 // Providence, RI
Stamped Postal Card
350th Anniversary of the Settling of Rhode Island

Roger Williams
(* 1603 , † 1683),
Clergyman,
Landing at Providence

Ninth President (September, 1654 - May, 1657) under the Patent of 1643
of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

#UX306 // July 24, 1999 // Block Island, RI
Stamped Postal Card
Block Island Southeastern Lighthouse
National Historic Landmark

The lighthouse, built in 1875, is attached to a
massive 2½ story brick Gothic double keeper's house,

highest light (52 ft [16 m]) in New England located on
Mohegan Bluffs, New Shoreham, RI

Geographic coordinates: 41° 09' 10" N - 71° 33' 04" W

[view photo]


        

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