Despair Island is a small 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 Newport County,

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 ...

. It is located between

Hope Island Hope Island may refer to: Places Antarctica * Hope Island (Graham Land), an island on d'Urville Island * Nadezhdy Island (Hope Island) Australia * Hope Island, Queensland, a suburb of Gold Coast City * Hope Island (Tasmania) * Hope Islands (Queen ...

and

Prudence Island Prudence Island is the third-largest island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island and part of the town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, United States. It is located near the geographic center of the bay. It is defined by the United St ...

. The island is composed of many outcroppings of rocks used extensively by nesting birds, such as gulls and terns. Despair Island is marked with a buoy because it is hard to see during daylight hours; it is barely visible at high tide, and the pile of rocks are almost impossible to distinguish between land and water at night. In 2010, two people were killed and three injured when their boat ran aground on the island during a nighttime boat ride.

History

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 ...

named this and the other islands in

, and a popular Colonial-period song helped children remember their names: Prudence, Patience, Hope, and Despair And little Hog Island, right over there.

References

Islands of Newport County, Rhode Island Islands of Narragansett Bay Nature reserves in Rhode Island Islands of Rhode Island {{RhodeIsland-geo-stub