I figured since I actually live here and actually LOVE my state, I could do better. So here’s 11 Actually Awesome Facts About Rhode Island. We know most of them, but this is for non-Rhode Islanders.
1. The Narragansett language is the origin of words like “moose”, “squash” and “pow-wow”. You can thank them yourself for having such great words if you’re ever in the area.
2. RI has a state drink, and it’s coffee milk (suck it, Indiana). It’s made like chocolate milk, you mix syrup into the milk. We have multiple brands of coffee syrup. You can try Autocrat and Eclipse by Autocrat, or try Dave’s Coffee Syrup.*
3. The shore is publicly-owned for all Rhode Islanders, according to our constitution. The shore in this case goes up to the “mean high water line” although there’s a debate about that. In short, in RI, you can’t own the ocean.
4. One of our governors invented sideburns. They’re named after him. But backwards.
5. Pell Grants are named after Sen. Claiborne Pell, who was the primary sponsor in the U.S. Senate. So millions of Americans can read BuzzFeed articles like Mini USA’s about RI and go “do they not know what ‘awesome’ means?” thanks to Sen. Pell.
6. The RI State House has the fourth largest self-supporting dome in the whole world; after St. Peter’s Basilica, the Minnesota State Capitol, and the Taj Mahal.* The dome was the third largest when it was completed, but by then, Minnesota had already got jealous.
7. We have the First Baptist Church in America. Like, it’s literally the first. So you can go to your first Baptist church in wherever you live in not-Rhode Island, and while it might be the first in your area, it’s not The First. Also, first synagogue in America as well.
8. Thomas Dorr, the guy who led a rebellion against our actual government? We count him as our 16th governor. He’s even got a special governor decoration on his grave.
9. Rhode Island and Providence Plantations isn’t just a quirky, longest name for a state. It also describes the first two areas under British rule in the state. Rhode Island (now called Aquidneck Island to distinguish it; yes, Rhode Island is an island) and Providence Plantations (now a number of towns and cities in the northern part of the state). For a long time, we couldn’t agree on a capital, and just swapped it between the two places, until 1901.
10. Rhode Islanders burned a British warship and shot one of its officers in 1772, over a year and a half before Bostonians were inspired to toss tea into harbors.
11. If you confuse Rhode Island with Long Island, a good Rhode Islander will ruthlessly lead you on as though Long Island is a new state. Virtually every Rhode Islander has a story like this.
*EDITS: An earlier version forgot about Dave’s Coffee Syrup, and incorrectly stated that there were only two brands of coffee syrup. Thanks to Kathy DiPina for the catch! And RI Grad also points out that I wrote unsupported instead of self-supported.
The Town of South Kingstown will once again appear before the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) to plead its case in support of emergency construction of a 202 ft sheet pile wall/riprap armament structure along a crucial stretch of Matunuck Beach Road. The issue before the council: “imminent peril” for Matunuck residents should the road fail.
The original request filed in September 2011 was heard before the full council on April 10, 2012 and denied as Town officials, residents and environmental concerns sought an alternative to construction.
The Town of South Kingstown whose responsibility for public health and welfare overshadows the issue of private property and shoreline protections, has expended approximately $45,000 in engineering expenses and clocked hundreds of man hours in its efforts to protect the road.
Primary concern for reconsideration is the critical state of a section of Matunuck Headlands shoreline wrought with years of sustained erosion from the waters of Block Island Sound to the south. The 202 ft. stretch of headlands directly abuts Matunuck Beach Road, the sole road and emergency services access to the homes and businesses to the east. The road infrastructure houses the community water line, also a public safety concern.
The hearing will take place in the South Kingstown High School auditorium at 6:00 pm tonight.
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Among dark and cloudy skies, the East Matunuck State Beach pavillion construction project saw the rise of its newest addition Thursday, a 120 ft., 10-kilowatt wind turbine.
One of DEM’s renewable energy projects, the wind turbine, along with solar panels installed on the facility’s roof will generate 21,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, saving the state an estimated $5600 annually, per DEM estimates.
Daniel Valcourt, Project Manager for Pezzuco Construction, says the facility is on track for scheduled opening on May 12. “Workers are readying the facilities for weekend open as of May 12, prior to the official beach opening on Memorial Day.”
A Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) project, the green $4 million revitalization effort, a complete reconstruction of the facility, is a major step in environmentally sound construction, operation and management of DEM facilities. The East Matunuck Pavillion project will include a solar-heated water system and composting toilet system, reducing effluent waste product from the property by as much as 95%.
A move toward the future in harnessing clean energy resources, the facility sitting on the shore of East Matunuck State Beach, quiet now with the ebb and flow of the tide raises the bar for future projects to come.
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