Block Island - Colonial History To Present

Colonial History To Present

In 1524, what later became known as Block Island was sighted by Giovanni da Verrazzano, who named it "Claudia", in honor of Claude, Duchess of Brittany, queen consort of France and the wife of Francis I. However, several contemporaneous maps identified the same island as "Luisa," after Louise of Savoy, the Queen Mother of France, and the mother of Francis I. Verrazano's ship log stated that the island was "full of hilles, covered with trees, well-peopled for we saw fires all along the coaste." In 1614, Block Island was charted by the Dutch explorer Adrian Block, who named it for himself. An expedition from the Boston area arrived in 1636 led by Captain John Endicott, and the island initially became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which in 1658 sold the island to a group of men headed up by Endicott, who had led the 1636 expedition. In 1661, the Endicott group sold the island to a party of sixteen settlers, led by John Alcock, who are today memorialized at Settler's Rock, near Cow's Cove. As these settlers had an allegiance to Rhode Island on several levels, Block Island was incorporated by the Rhode Island general assembly in 1672, and the island government adopted the name "New Shoreham." A Dutch map of 1685 clearly shows Block Island, indicated as Adrian Block Island ("Adriaen Blocks Eylant").

In 1699, the Scottish sailor William Kidd visited Block Island, shortly before he was accused of piracy and hanged. At Block Island he was supplied by Mrs. Mercy (Sands) Raymond, daughter of the mariner James Sands. The story has it that, for her hospitality, Mrs. Raymond was bid to hold out her apron, into which Kidd threw gold and jewels until it was full. After her husband Joshua Raymond died, Mercy moved with her family to northern New London, Connecticut (later Montville), where she bought much land. The Raymond family was thus said to have been "enriched by the apron".

During The War of 1812 Block Island was briefly occupied by the British Navy under the command of Sir Thomas Hardy. British vessels included HMS Dispatch, HMS Terror, HMS Nimrod, HMS Pactolus and HMS Ramillies. Hardy took the fleet to Block Island in search of food and to establish a strategic position at the mouth of the Long Island Sound. The British were enraged to discover that virtually all Block Island livestock and food stores had been transferred to Stonington, Connecticut in advance of their arrival. On August 9, 1814 Hardy and his fleet departed Block Island for Stonington Harbor in part to lay claim to the Block Island food stores and livestock. Hardy's pre-dawn raid on 10 August was repulsed with damage to his fleet in a battle that has since become known as The Battle of Stonington.

In 1829, the original North Lighthouse was built, but it was replaced in 1837 after it was washed out to sea. This lighthouse was also claimed by the ocean. In 1867, the lighthouse that can be seen today was constructed. A few years later in 1873, construction began on Block Island's other lighthouse, Southeast Light.

Since Block Island has no natural harbors, breakwaters were constructed to form Old Harbor in 1870. Block Island's other harbor, New Harbor, wouldn't be created until 1895 when a channel was dug that connected the Great Salt Pond to the ocean through the north west side of the island.

The Island Free Library, Block Island's only public library, was established in 1875. Block Island's school was built in 1933, replacing five one roomed schools.

During World War II, several artillery spotters were located on the island to direct fire from the heavy gun batteries at Fort Greene, Point Judith that protected the entrance to Narragansett Bay. Lookout positions for the spotters were built to look like houses. The US government offered to evacuate the island, as it could not be effectively defended from enemy invasion. However, the islanders chose to stay. Days before the war against Germany ended, the Battle of Point Judith took place 7 miles to the northeast of the island.

The island's airport was opened in 1950 and remains open today as a general aviation airport. In 1972 the Block Island Conservancy was founded. The Conservancy and other environmental organizations are responsible for protecting over 40% of the island from development. In 1974 Old Harbor Historic District was declared a National Register historic district. Discussions of Block Island's old buildings, native islanders, history, and ongoing efforts to conserve the land, together with a collection of 800 period photographs of the island spanning the 1870s to the 1980s, are found in four books: "Block Island --- The Sea", "Block Island --- The Land", and Volumes 1 & 2 of "The Block Island History of Photography", all by historian Robert M. Downie.