Islands of Rhode Island - Block Island, Aquidneck Island, Goat Island, Prudence Island, Dutch Island, Gould Island, Conanicut Island (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Block Island, Aquidneck Island, Goat Island, Prudence Island, Dutch Island, Gould Island, Conanicut Island, Rose Island, Hog Island, Patience Island, Outer Lands, Hope Island, Coaster's Harbor Island, Dyer Island, Whale Rock, Fox Island, Despair Island, Lime Rock, Rock Island, Starvegoat Island, Greene Island, Cornelius Island, Rabbit Island, Spar Island. Excerpt: Aquidneck Island highlighted in red Aquidneck Island (or Rhode Island ) is the largest island in Narragansett Bay . Its official name, Rhode Island, is used on United States Geological Survey topographic and many other maps, but it is known locally as Aquidneck Island, in part to distinguish it from the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, of which it is a part. The total land area is 97.9 km (37.8 sq mi). The 2000 United States Census reported its population as 60,870. The origin of the name "Rhode Island" is unclear. It may have been given its name because of its similarity in shape to the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean . Alternatively, it may have been bestowed by Dutch navigator Adriaen Block who visited the island in 1614, who may have named it Roode after the Dutch word for "red." The conflict between the official name of Aquidneck Island and the name of the state of which it is a part causes some amount of confusion, debate and controversy, it often being noted that "Rhode Island is not an Island." It is also sometimes suggested that the name of the island be officially changed to Aquidneck Island, to avoid confusion with the state as a whole. The city of Newport, the state's fifth-largest city, shares the island with the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth . A Brief History of Aquidneck Island The English colonists first settled on present-day Aquidneck Island in the year 1638 in the regi...