NAP- Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket

US > Rhode Island > Providence County RI > Pawtucket RI > NAP- Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket > Some Rhode Island Trivia

Some Rhode Island Trivia

Posted in: NAP- Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket
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  • nap
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  • On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island became the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Rhode Island's reluctance was due in part to the debate over the addition of a bill of rights to guarantee individual liberties; but once such a bill was proposed by Congress, Rhode Island finally ratified the Constitution by a narrow margin (34 to 32). The fact that the new "more perfect union" would have treated Rhode Island as a foreign government if it had failed to ratify may also have had something to do with their change of heart.

  • In Providence, in May 1792, Elijah Ormsbee piloted one of the first steam-powered boats, financed by David Wilkinson and dubbed the "Experiment," on a three-mile-an-hour trip between Pawtucket and Providence. Instead of paddle wheels it had hinged duck-like paddles that folded up on the forward stroke. Elements of the engine's design may later have been "appropriated" by Robert Fulton in the building of his own steamboat.

  • In 1793, Samuel Slater's mill in Pawtucket became the country's first successful water-powered cotton mill, kicking off the Industrial Revolution in America.

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  • In Newport on August 28, 1904, Judge Darius Baker imposed the first jail sentence for speeding in an automobile. The offender was caught traveling at the breakneck speed of 15 miles per hour.

  • Rhode Island was the only state that rejected and did not ratify the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages. Rhode Island rumrunners subsequently made a tidy profit ferrying liquor ashore from beyond the three-mile limit.

  • Providence's population reached an all-time peak of 267,918 in 1925. Between 1950 and 1970, Providence had the largest proportionate urban to suburban migration of any major city in the nation. Population dwindled from 248,674 to 179,116 for a total loss of 28%. According to 2000 census figures, the city's population still stands at only 173,618.

  • An ethnic survey performed in the 1930s found that Woonsocket contained the third-largest French-speaking population among cities in North America. The top two cities were Quebec and Montreal.
    • Tags: Speeding At 15mph, Oysters, Slang Or Sling
    January 15th 2010 Report Reply
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    • nap
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    Some Rodeilandese too

    unomasayin
    whachu
    ey! pison,  bottcha me 
    unousa
    u no
    donchano
    January 16th 2010 Report Reply
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    • marymary
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    I remember that Rocky Point had the World's biggest clam bake reputation in their gigantic hall as I grew up and even in Pawtucket, Oysters were raised below Parent's Marina, so maybe some of this will come back if we stick with nice hotels and attractions on the river and not carpet mills and such as a dead end alley.

    January 16th 2010 Report Reply
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