Aquidneck Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aquidneck Island is the largest island in Narragansett Bay. The official name for this island is Rhode Island and it is identified as such on many maps, including USGS topographic maps, however it is almost universally known locally as Aquidneck Island, in part probably because of the confusion created by referring to it as Rhode Island. It must be distinguished from the State of Rhode Island, of which it is part. The total land area is 97.9 km² (37.8 sq mi), and the population as of the 2000 census was 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 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 city of Newport shares the island with the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth. Newport is the fifth largest city in the state of Rhode Island.
The 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 (in Portsmouth), adjacent to Bristol Ferry and Common Fence Point, connects the the northern side of Aquidneck Island to the mainland at Bristol. The Sakonnet River Bridge (in Portsmouth) also adjacent to Common Fence Point, connects the northeastern side of the island to the mainland at Tiverton over the Sakonnet River, a narrow saltwater strait. South of the Sakonnet River Bridge, in the area known as The Hummocks and Island Park, is the site of the Stone Bridge (Rhode Island) destroyed by Hurricane Carol in 1954. The bridges replaced the long running ferry system that allowed Aquidneck Islanders access to the mainland and other Narragansett Bay islands.
