Relocating to Rhode Island?

Enjoy your adventure as you visit the best Rhode Island relocation resource available today.

Before you start your journey, take a minute and review what makes Rhode Island a great place to work and play.

What makes Rhode Island real estate worthwhile?

The tiny state of Rhode Island is not an island at all. The unusual name can be traced back to the roots of European settlement here in the early 17th century. After being expelled from neighboring Massachusetts for championing religious and political freedom, Roger Williams founded a colony at Providence in 1636. Similar settlements soon sprang up at Portsmouth, Warwick, and Newport, which occupied the southwest extension of a large island in Narragansett Bay called Rhode Island. These fledgling colonies became known collectively as the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations—to this day the official name of the state.

Since the Europeans settled here, manufacturing has been the mainstay of the state’s economy, and Rhode Island commanded a leading role in the nation’s Industrial Revolution. In 1790 Samuel Slater helped establish the textile industry in the United States by building the first powered cotton mill, in Pawtucket. A few years later Nehemiah and Seril Dodge of Providence laid the foundation for the country’s jewelry industry. Providence still ranks as a leading producer of costume and precious jewelry, as well as silverware. Although textile manufacturing has declined in recent decades, it still contributes to the Rhode Island economy, along with the production of precision instruments, toys, and plastic goods.

Rhode Island is a popular destination for tourists, who spend more than $1 billion each year visiting historic sites and vacation destinations such as Conanicut Island and Block Island, which is reached by a 16-kilometer (10-mile) ferry ride across the Rhode Island Sound. Newport, a resort city famous for its opulent mansions, was home to the America’s Cup Regatta for more than half a century and has hosted the acclaimed Newport Jazz Festival since 1954.

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