All Aboard
All Aboard

Author: Scott Molloy

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738534671

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All Aboard: The History of Mass Transportation in Rhode Island covers the period from the Civil War to the creation of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). Each of the seven chapters examines a particular form of travel and its impact on the people and surrounding area. From the horse-drawn omnibus, horse car, and cable tramway to the rumbling buses of modern times, this book welcomes readers to explore various types of bygone transport. As well as a cornucopia of transportation street images, the book reproduces documents, badges, and tokens to provide a comprehensive glimpse of yesteryear; it includes little known facts and stories of life on the road. Learn how the horse car beat out the old-fashioned omnibus to dominate city streets during the Gilded Age, and how the electric streetcar quickly replaced the horse car by the 1890s. Discover the joy that grandparents experienced taking an open bloomer car to Rocky Point or Roger Williams Park. See the rubber-tired, trackless trolleys that ran on electric current from overhead wires. Explore the action of the 1902 railway strike in Providence and Pawtucket that led to the mobilization of the state militia.

Untold Stories from World War II Rhode Island
Untold Stories from World War II Rhode Island

Author: Christian McBurney

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2019-10-21

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1439668329

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Following the success of World War II Rhode Island, author Christian McBurney returns, with new coauthors Norman Desmarais and Varoujan Karentz, to present extraordinary personal stories of local contributions to the war effort. From John F. Kennedy's training as a PT boat commander at Melville to George H.W. Bush's training as a pilot at Charlestown, the smallest state played an oversized role preparing navy officers and sailors. Important innovations are credited here too. Radar used on night-flying aircraft was developed at Jamestown's Spraycliff Observatory and tested at Charlestown, and at Davisville, Seabees developed a pontoon aircraft landing field tested on Narragansett Bay. Scituate was home to the nation's most successful spy listening station. After these and more captivating stories are revealed, the final chapter details existing World War II sites across the state readers can visit.

The WPA Guide to Rhode Island
The WPA Guide to Rhode Island

Author: Federal Writers' Project

Publisher: Trinity University Press

Published: 2013-10-31

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13: 1595342370

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During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. The WPA Guide to the smallest state in the United States, Rhode Island, is by no means the shortest guide in this series. The Ocean State has a rich and extensive history which provides plenty of material to be covered. Despite a small geographic region, there is plenty of historical sites, photographs of churches and houses, and plenty of driving tours.