Aquidneck Island, officially Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay and in the state of Rhode Island, which is named after the island. The total land area is, which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2000 United States Census reported its population as 60,870. Aquidneck Island is home to three towns, from north to south: Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport.
Etymology
"Aquidneck" is derived from the Narragansett name for the island aquidnet. Roger Williams was an authority on the Narragansett language, but he stated that he never learned the word's meaning. It is unclear how it 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. In 1524, explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay which he likened to the Greek island of Rhodes. It is uncertain which island he was referring to, but the colonists who settled the area decided to refer to Aquidneck as Rhode Island. Another popular origin theory is based on the fact that Adriaen Block passed by Aquidneck Island during his 1614 expedition, described in a 1625 account of his travels as "an island of reddish appearance". Dutch maps from as early as 1659 call it "Roode Eylant" or Red Island. Historians have theorized that it was named by the Dutch for either the red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore. In 1644, the settlements on Rhode Island united with Providence Plantations and Warwick to form the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and, eventually, the 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 U.S. Board on Geographic Names 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 to change the official name to "Aquidneck Island" have been made as recently as 2004, but all of these have failed.
History
Colonists settled on Aquidneck Island in 1638 in the region that the Narragansetts called "Pocasset", the northern part of Portsmouth. They engaged Roger Williams to negotiate the terms of their purchase from Narragansett sachem Miantonomi. These settlers included William Coddington, Anne and William Hutchinson, Philip Sherman, William Dyer, John Coggeshall, Nicholas Easton, William Brenton, John Clarke, and Richard Maxson. They bought the island for 40 fathoms of white wampum, 20 hoes, 10 coats for the resident Indians, and 5 more fathoms of wampum for the local sachem, and Narragansett Sachems Canonicus and his nephew Miantonomi signed a deed for it. These first settlers founded Pocasset, but William Coddington chose Newport for a settlement the following spring 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.
The Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge connects Aquidneck Island to Jamestown on nearby Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay, and subsequently to the mainland on the western side of the bay. The Mount Hope Bridge is adjacent to Bristol Ferry and Common Fence Point and connects the northern side of Aquidneck Island in Portsmouth to the mainland at Bristol. The Sakonnet River Bridge 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.
