Aquidneck Island ( ), officially known as Rhode Island, is an island in

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. S ...

in the state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. The total land area is , which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as 60,109. The state of Rhode Island is named after the island; the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

recognizes Rhode Island as the name for the island, although it is widely referred to as Aquidneck Island in the state and by the island's residents. Aquidneck Island is home to three towns: from north to south,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, Middletown, and Newport.

Etymology

"Aquidneck" is derived from the Narragansett name for the island ''aquidnet''.

Roger Williams Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...

was an authority on the Narragansett language, but he stated that he never learned the word's meaning.

Island names over time

It is unclear how Aquidneck came to be known as Rhode Island, but the earliest known use of the name was in 1637 by Roger Williams, and it was officially applied to the island in 1644: "Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Ile of Rods or Rhod-Island." The name "Isle of Rodes" is used in a legal document as late as 1646. One theory states that

Adriaen Block Adriaen Courtsen Block (c. 1567 – 27 April 1627) was a Dutch private trader, privateer, and ship's captain who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four voyages ...

passed by Aquidneck Island during his 1614 expedition, describing it in a 1625 account of his travels as "an island of reddish appearance" (in 17th century Dutch ''een rodlich Eylande''). Dutch maps from as early as 1659 call it "Roode Eylant" or Red Island. Historians have theorized that it was named by the Dutch (possibly by Adriaen Block himself) for either the red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore. In 1644, the settlements on Rhode Island (

and Newport) united with Providence Plantations and

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

to form the

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was an English colony on the eastern coast of America, founded in 1636 by Puritan minister Roger Williams after his exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It became a haven for religious d ...

and, eventually, the

State of Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island ...

(formerly State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations). The entire state is now commonly referred to as Rhode Island, and the official name of Aquidneck Island is still "Rhode Island". The

addressed the issue in 1930 by using both names of the island on its maps. By 1964, the board decided that having two names was confusing, and "Rhode Island" was used exclusively as the official name. Attempts have been made, as recently as 2004, to change the official name to "Aquidneck Island", but all of these have failed. The name Aquidneck Island is widely used in Rhode Island to refer to the island, including by publications such as '' The Newport Daily News''.

History

Colonists settled on Aquidneck Island in 1638 in the region that the Narragansetts called "Pocasset" (meaning "where the stream widens"), the northern part of

. They engaged

to negotiate the terms of their settlement of the island from the Narragansett sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi. These settlers included William Coddington,

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

and William Hutchinson, Philip Sherman, William Dyer, John Coggeshall,

Nicholas Easton Nicholas Easton (1593–1675) was an early colonial President and Governor of Rhode Island. Born in Hampshire, England, he lived in the towns of Lymington and Romsey before immigrating to New England with his two sons in 1634. Once in the N ...

, William Brenton, John Clarke, and Richard Maxson (Maggsen). In thanks for being allowed to settle Aquidneck Island, the settlers gave the Narragansetts 40 fathoms of white

wampum Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans. It includes white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western ...

, 20 hoes, 10 coats, and 5 more fathoms of wampum for the sachems.Rhode Island Geography
/ref> Canonicus and his nephew Miantonomi signed a deed for it. However, as Roger Williams made clear in a June 1638 letter to

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

lawyer

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...

, one of the leading figures in founding the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

: "Sir, concerning the islands Prudence and...Aquedenick ...neither of them were sold properly, for a thousand fathom would not have bought either, by strangers. The truth is, not a penny was demanded for either, and what was paid was only gratuity, though I chose, for better assurance and form, to call it sale." These first settlers founded Pocasset, but William Coddington chose Newport for a settlement the following spring (1639) because of its excellent harbor, and some of the settlers followed him there. The British army occupied Aquidneck Island during the American Revolution from 1776 to 1779. The Continental Army under command of Major General John Sullivan attempted to drive them out in the Battle of Rhode Island on August 29, 1778, but without success.

Schools

The island is home to Salve Regina University, the Newport campus of the Community College of Rhode Island, and International Yacht Restoration School.

Naval Station Newport Naval Station Newport (NAVSTA Newport) is a United States Navy base located in the city of Newport, Rhode Island, Newport and the town of Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice Scho ...

is located on Aquidneck Island and the adjacent Coasters Harbor Island. It is also home to two well known private boarding schools: St. George's School in Middletown and Portsmouth Abbey School in Portsmouth. The island also contains numerous public and private primary and secondary schools as a part of the school systems of Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth.

Bridges

Aquidneck Island is served by three bridges: The Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge (1969) connects it to Jamestown on nearby

Conanicut Island Conanicut Island ( ) is an island in Narragansett Bay in the American state of Rhode Island. The second-largest in the Bay, it is connected on the east to Newport, Rhode Island, Newport on Aquidneck Island by the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, ...

, and subsequently to the mainland on the western side of the bay. The Mount Hope Bridge (1929) is adjacent to Bristol Ferry and Common Fence Point and connects the northern side of Aquidneck Island in Portsmouth to the mainland at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. The Sakonnet River Bridge (2012) in Portsmouth connects the northeastern side of the island to the mainland at Tiverton over the Sakonnet River, a narrow saltwater strait. It is a replacement for a bridge of the same name built in 1956.

Environmental contamination

The west coast of Aquidneck Island is part of

, a

superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

site since 1989. Almost the entire area from its fuel tank farms drains into ditches and into

. The Navy has been rehabilitating the property following contamination from petroleum, heavy metals, including lead and arsenic, and

polychlorinated biphenyls Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organochlorine compounds with the formula C12 H10−''x'' Cl''x''; they were once widely used in the manufacture of carbonless copy paper, as heat transfer fluids, and as dielectric and coolant fluids f ...

(PCBs) where there were electrical transformers. In addition there is

PFAS Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also PFAS, PFASs, and informally referred to as "forever chemicals") are a group of synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain; there are 7 millio ...

contamination of groundwater and in

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow or terrestrial runoff) is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to ''channel runoff'' (or ''stream flow''). It occurs when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other ...

water. The groundwater is used for irrigation on crops and lawn sprinkler systems.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Islands of Narragansett Bay Islands of Newport County, Rhode Island Islands of Rhode Island