One Square Mile

As part of Rhode Island Public Radio's series One Square Mile: New Bedford, political analyst Scott MacKay reflects on the city's past, from whaling to textiles, to its role in the Underground Railroad.

Do you have a favorite book? Maybe it’s a novel you read again and again. But has a work of fiction ever inspired your vacation plans? New Bedford is the destination for devotees of one famous literary leviathan.

The town of Johnston has been a Democratic stronghold for years, but in 2016 Johnston voters gave Republican Donald Trump a decisive 14 point victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. That was the sharpest swing in partisan support since 2012 for any Rhode Island community.

On the National Register of Historic Places, the Ochee Spring Quarry in Johnston preserves a record of soapstone bowl-making dating back at least 3,000 years.

Opened in 1959, Town Hall Lanes is a staple of Johnston. Birthday parties are commonplace, and local bowling teams are there every weekend. In today’s One Square Mile: Johnston, a postcard from a town favorite.

King’s Tabernacle Church took the town of Johnston to court last year after town officials appeared to be trying to block the congregation from moving into a long-abandoned building in town. The church, whose congregation is small and largely African American, cited racial bias. But today the community is thriving in the heart of one of the most Italian, Catholic areas of the state.

In recent years, Rhode Islanders have spotted wild visitors not typically found in the Ocean State: Arctic beluga whales in Narragansett Bay and even snowy owls. It turns out the Central Landfill in Johnston is another draw for wildlife.

Providence Business News Editor Mark Murphy joins Rhode Island Public Radio's Dave Fallon for our weekly business segment, The Bottom Line. This week Dave and Mark discuss business development in suburban Johnston, the town that lured Citizens Bank to build a new campus. Governor Gina Raimondo toured the construction site on Thursday. Mark and Dave are joined by Realtor Pete Hayes of Cushman & Wakefield/Hayes & Sherry. Haynes ​was involved in the siting of the new FM Global office in

Johnston is home to one of the oldest houses in Rhode Island: the Clemence-Irons House , built in 1691. It's right on George Waterman Road, but if you don't slow down, you'll miss it.

This week our series "One Square Mile" is getting to know the town of Johnston. And if you’ve ever taken a drive on Greenville Avenue in Johnston, you’ll notice residential homes across the street from working farms. Johnston used to be home to many dairy farms and orchards that over time have dwindled to roughly a dozen working farms. Baffoni’s Poultry Farm, established in 1935, has seen the change firsthand. The farm is in its fourth generation of farmers, and it’s only in recent years that it

All this week we’re hearing stories from Johnston, the Rhode Island town that flipped the most dramatically from blue to red in the presidential election.

Right across from the Johnston Town Hall is the home of the Autism Project, a nonprofit that helps kids with autism spectrum disorder learn to cope with their condition.

Democrat Hillary Clinton won the state of Rhode Island in November, but then-candidate Donald Trump beat her by 14 points in Johnston.

This week our series "One Square Mile" is shining a light on the town of Johnston. You can’t talk about Johnston without talking about Italians, and some would say you can’t talk about Italians without talking about Italian food. We talk to one expert: a 92-year-old woman who, by her granddaughter's estimate, has made 100,000 meatballs in her lifetime.