Your NCECA Board will be meeting this week in Providence to start planning the programming for our 49th annual meeting.  We are excited to review the MANY proposals we received.  (A nearly 75% increase over proposals submitted last year!  WOW!)  While we are hard at work on conference plans and other business.  Enjoy these Fun Facts about Providence, Rhode Island! (Big thanks to Lauren Skelly for putting this together!) Also be sure to check out this great New York Times article about Providence too!

  • Known for being one of the oldest cities in the US, found in 1956 by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Roger Williams Park, which contains a zoo, a botanical center, and the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium.
  • Providence was one of the first cities in the country to industrialize and quickly became known for its jewelry and silverware industry.
  • Is home to eight hospitals and seven institutions of higher learning, which has shifted the city’s economy into service industries
  • Nickname “Beehive of Industry,” Providence began rebranding itself as the “Creative Capital” in 2009 to emphasize its educational resources and arts community
  • Well known for its fine cuisine- restaurants that cater to a variety of tastes
  • Affinity for coffee, as the former has the most coffee/doughnut shops per capita of any city in the country
  • Reputed to have the highest number of restaurants per capital, many of which founded and/or staffed by its own Johnson and Wales University and several places are also owned/staffed by Rhode Island School of Design graduates
  • Providence is home the home of many theater groups and art communities – specifically Tony Award-winning theater group Trinity Repertory Company
  • Down town area of Providence is the home of the fourth largest unsupported dome in the world and the second largest marble dome aft St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
  • Westminster Arcade – in Downtown is the oldest enclosed shopping center in the US
  • Providence Athenaeum is the fourth oldest library in the country
  • Edgar Allan Poe, know for his gothic literary style was known for being in Providence. Poe also met his lover Sarah Helen Whitman here.
  • The southern part of the city is home to the famous roadside attraction Nibbles Woodaway (also known as the “Big Blue Bug”), the world’s largest termite, which can be see heading south on I-95 motorway
  • Known for Dell Lemonade, clam casino, coffee and having the longest official state name: The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations