Trails to the Past

Rhode Island

 

site search by freefind

 

 

State Adminstrator - Marie Miller

Trails to the Past of Rhode Island is requesting donations of any Genealogy Materials that you may have, old obituaries, news clippings, death records, wills, marriage records, and births.  If you happen to have any of these items would you please consider donating them to us.  Please include the source of you information, if it is possible.  Email them to Marie Miller State Administrator.

 

Capital: Providence

Flower: Violet

Tree: Red Maple

Bird: Rhode Island Red

Song: "Rhode Island's It for Me"

Fish: Striped Bass Mineral: Bowenite

Fruit: Rhode Island Greening Apple

Nicknames: The Ocean State, Little Rhody

Entered Union: May 29, 1790

It is unclear how Aquidneck Island came to be known as Rhode Island, although there are two popular theories.

The explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, in 1524 noted the presence of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay, which he likened to the Greek island of Rhodes. However, subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the island that Verrazzano had named. Nevertheless, the Pilgrims who later colonized the area assumed that Verrazzano's "Rhodes" was Aquidneck.

A second theory concerns the fact that Adriaen Block, during his expeditions in the 1610's, passed by Aquidneck, described in a 1625 account of his travels as "an island of reddish appearance" (in 17th-century Dutch, "een rodlich Eylande"). Historians have theorized that this "reddish appearance" resulted from either red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore.

 

Our neighbors are: Connecticut, Massachusetts

 

On Line Data

 

Counties of Rhode Island

Bristol
Formed: 1747
County Seat: Bristol

Kent
Formed: 1750
County Seat: East Greenwich
Newport
Formed: 1703
County Seat: Newport
Providence
Formed: 1703
County Seat: Providence
Washington
Formed: 1781
County Seat: South Kingstown

 

 

This webspace is generously provided by our sponsors Thank You! Genealogy Village and Access Genealogy

 

 

The information on Trails to the Past © Copyright may be used in personal family history research, with source citation. The pages in entirety may not be duplicated for publication in any fashion without the permission of the owner. Commercial use of any material on this site is not permitted.  Please respect the wishes of those who have contributed their time and efforts to make this free site possible.~Thank you!