was valued in 1908 at $556,774. The value of the clay products,
lime and talc, decreased from $245,378 in 1907 to $112,815 in
1908. The mining of iron ore was begun about 1767 in the vicinity
of the present Cranston, and much of the metal was used in the
making of cannon during the War of Independence, but the supply
was soon exhausted. Near Tiverton and Cranston graphite has
been quarried.
Manufactures.—Rhode Island is essentially a manufacturing state; of the 191,923 persons in the state engaged in gainful occupations in 1900, 101,162 (or 52.7%) were employed in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. By the middle of the 17th century boat-building had become an established industry, and large vessels were built at Newport. In 1777 the state offered a large premium for every pound of steel, similar to German steel, made within its boundaries; and in 1789 a rolling and slitting mill was built near Providence. Cotton was first imported to Providence from Spain in 1785; a company to carry on cotton-spinning, formed at Providence in 1786, established there in the following year a factory containing a spinning jenny of 28 spindles (the first machine of the kind to be used in the United States), and also a carding machine and a spinning frame with which was manufactured a kind of jean having a linen warp and a cotton filling. The fly shuttle was also apparently first introduced at Providence in 1788. The first calico printed in the United States was made at East Greenwich about 1794. The Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, incorporated in 1789, organized industrial development. The prohibition of the exportation from England of machinery, models or drawings retarded mechanical improvement, but in 1790 an industrial company was formed at Providence to carry on cotton spinning, and in December of that year there was established at Pawtucket a factory equipped with Arkwright machines constructed by Samuel Slater. This machinery was operated by water-power, then first used in the United States for the spinning of cotton thread; and from this may be dated the beginning of the factory system in Rhode Island. These machines were soon adapted to the spinning of wool, and in 1804 a woollen factory was built at Peacedale, South Kingston. The first power-loom used in the United States was invented about 1812, and was set up at Peacedale, in 1814, for the manufacture of woollen saddlegirths and other webbing. The first power-loom for cotton manufacture was set up in North Providence in 1817. Textile manufacturing by improved methods was hardly well established in Rhode Island before 1825. The manufacture of jewelry, which was established in Providence in 1784, was greatly promoted ten years later by Nehemiah Dodge's invention of the process of “gold-filling,” still further improved in 1846 by Thomas H. Lowe. The manufacture of silverware was begun in Providence soon after the close of the War of Independence.
Rhode Island's water powers have been its only natural resources which have aided in the development of its manufactures, and its transportation facilities have always been inadequate, because of shallow water at Providence and scanty railway communication; but the state's manufacturing enterprises are of great importance.
In 1900 Rhode Island ranked 17th among the states in the value of its manufactured products, but led all of the states in the value per capita ($430). The total number of establishments in 1850 was 864; in 1890, 3377, and in 1900, 4189. In 1900 there were 1678 factories, and in 1905, 1617 factories.[1] The total capital invested in manufacturing in 1850 was $12,935,676; in 1890, $126,483,401, and in 1900, $183,784,587, of which $176,901,606 was in factories; in 1905 the capital invested in factories was $215,901,375. The value of all manufactured products in 1850 was $22,117,688; in 1890, $142,500,625, and in 1900, $184,074,378, of which $165,550,382 was the value of factory products; in 1905 the value of factory products was $202,109,583. The average number of employés in 1850 was 20,967; in 1890, 81,111; and in 1900, 98,813, of whom 88,197 were factory employés; in 1905 there were 97,318 factory employés.
Rhode Island ranked first in 1900 ($13,229,313) and in 1905 ($14,431,756) among the states of the United States in the value of jewelry, which was fourth in the value of the state's manufactures; second in worsted goods (1900, $33,341,329; 1905, $44,477,596), which were first in value in the state's manufactures; and third in dyeing and finishing textiles (1900, $8,484,878; 1905, $9,981,457), which ranked fifth among the state's manufactures; in the value of cotton goods (second in rank in the state) it fell from the fourth rank in 1900 ($24,056,175) to fifth rank in 1905 ($30,628,843), when the value of Rhode Island's product was less than that of Georgia. Other important manufactures were: combined textiles (not including flax, hemp and jute products) in 1900, $77,998,396; in 1905, $103,096.311; foundry and machine shop products in 1900, $13,269,086; in 1905, $16,338,512; woollen goods in 1900, $5,330,550; in 1905, $8,163,167; rubber boots and shoes in 1900, $8,034,417; electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies in 1900, $5,113,292; in 1905, $5,435,474; silversmithing and silverware in 1900, $4,249,190; in 1905, $5,323,264; gold and silver, reducing and refining (not from ore) in 1900, $3,484,454; in 1905, $4,260,698; cotton small wares in 1900, $2,379,500; in 1905, $3,944,607; hosiery and knit goods in 1900, $2,713,850; in 1905, $3,344,655; silk and silk goods in 1900, $1,311,333; in 1905, $2,555,986. In 1905, 1146 establishments reported power, as against 1360 in 1900—a decrease of 15.7%, but the total horsepower increased from 155,545 to 190,777, or 22.7%.
Transportation.—Steam railway mileage in Rhode Island increased from 68 m. in 1850 to 209 m. in 1900, and to 211 m. on the 1st of January 1909 (the New York, New Haven & Hartford being the only railway system of any importance in the state). In 1910 a charter was granted to the Grand Trunk system. In 1902 the mileage of street and electric railways (most of them interurban) operated in the state was 336.33 m. The state has a natural water outlet in the Providence river and Narragansett Bay, but there is lack of adequate dockage in Providence harbour, and insufficient depth of water for ocean traffic. The ports of entry are Providence (by far the largest, with imports valued at $1,893,551, and exports valued at $12,517 in 1909), Newport and Bristol.
Population.—The total population of Rhode Island in 1880 was 276,531; in 1890, 345,506; in 1900, 428,556; and in 1910, 542,674.[2] The increase from 1880 to 1890 was 24.9%, from 1890 to 1900 24%, and from 1900 to 1910, 26.6%. Of the total population in 1900, 285,278 were native whites, 134,519 were foreign-born, 9092 were negroes, 366 were Chinese, 35 were Indians and 13 were Japanese. Of the foreign-born, 35,501 were Irish, 31,533 were French-Canadians and 22,832 were English. Of the total population, 275,143 were of foreign parentage, i.e. either one or both parents were foreign-born—and 81,232 were of Irish parentage, both on the father's and mother's side, and, in the same sense, 49,427 were of French-Canadian and 32,007 of English parentage. Rhode Island in 1900 had the highest percentage of urban population of any state in the Union, 91.6% of the total population living in cities of 4000 or more inhabitants. From 1890 to 1900 the urban population increased from 310,335 to 392,509 or 26.5%; while the rural population (i.e. population outside of incorporated places), increased from 35,171 to 36,047—1.1% of the total increase in population. The cities of the state, with population in 1900,[3] are Providence, 175,597; Pawtucket, 39,231; Woonsocket, 28,204; Newport, 22,034; and Central Falls, 18,167. In 1906 there were in the state 264,712 communicants of various religious denominations, and of these 199,951 were Roman Catholics. Second in strength were the Baptists, who founded the colony; in 1906 they numbered 19,878, of whom 14,304 were of the Northern Convention. There were 15,443 Protestant Episcopalians, 9858 Congregationalists, 7892 Methodists. The Friends, whose influence was so strong in the early history of Providence, numbered in 1906 only 648 in the whole state.
Administration.—The state is governed under the constitution of 1842, with amendments adopted in 1854, 1864, 1886, 1888, 1889, 1892, 1893, 1900, 1903, 1909. All native or naturalized citizens of the United States residing in Rhode
- ↑ The 1905 census of manufactures gives statistics only for establishments under the factory system, excluding the hand trades, and gives factory statistics for 1905 and for 1900. The statistics given above for 1900 in comparison with 1905 are for factory products.
- ↑ The populations in other census years were: (1790) 68,825; (1800) 69,122; (1810) 76,931; (1820) 83,059; (1830) 97,199; (1840) 108,830; (1850) 147,545; (1860) 174,620; (1870) 217,353.
- ↑ In 1910 the populations of the cities were: Providence, 224,326; Pawtucket, 51,622; Woonsocket, 38,125; Newport, 27,149; and Central Falls, 22,754.
