Goat Island (Rhode Island)
Claiborne Pell Bridge can be seen in the background. | |
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Geography | |
Coordinates | 41°29.112′N 71°19.681′W / 41.485200°N 71.328017°W |
Administration | |
United States | |
State | Rhode Island |
City | Newport |
Goat Island is a small island in
Colonial History
Narragansett Indians called the island "Nante Sinunk" and sold it in 1658.
On Friday, 19 July 1723, twenty-six
In 1738, a stone fort was built and renamed Fort George after King George II.[5] In 1764, Newporters took over Fort George and fired shots at HMS St. John, a British ship with a crew that had allegedly stolen from local merchants.[6] In 1769, Rhode Islanders burned the customs ship HMS Liberty when it drifted to the north end of Goat Island (near where the pirates were buried) in another early act of rebellion against British rule.
In September 2018 maritime archaeologists reported that they had discovered the resting place of Captain Cook's HMS Endeavour just off the coast of Goat Island, where it had been used to blockade the British during the American Revolutionary War. The ship and its crew had been made famous as the first European explorers to visit Australia's east coast.[7]
Revolutionary War
In 1775, the Fort was renamed Fort Liberty. The British army occupied Newport from 1776 through 1779 and renamed it Fort George during that time.
Post-revolution
In 1784 the fort on Goat Island was repaired and renamed Fort Washington after George Washington. In 1794, Newport sold Goat Island to the federal government for $1,500 to maintain a military fort to defend Newport Harbor. The fort was named
In 1851 the original lighthouse moved to Prudence Island to become Prudence Island Light, and the current Newport Harbor Light was constructed on a dike near the former lighthouse site. The area surrounding the dike was later filled in when the hotel was constructed much later.[5]
In 1869 the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station was founded on Goat Island, on the site of the former Army fort. The Station was greatly expanded over the next 100 years and produced many of the Navy's torpedoes through World War I and World War II at the island's Navy Torpedo Factory. One of the Navy's first radio stations was established on the island in 1903. The torpedo station was closed in 1951 and Naval Undersea Warfare Center was created with a facility nearby.
Coast Guard
In addition to the Goat Island lighthouse, the
Redevelopment
In the 1960s, Goat Island was sold to a private developer, Globe Manufacturing. Over the next several decades, Globe constructed the Colonial Hilton Hotel (later known as the Sheraton Islander Inn, Islander Doubletree Hotel, the Hyatt Regency, and, as of late, Gurney's Newport) and Goat Island South Condominiums, and converted the only former navy building remaining on the island into the Goat Island Marina and Marina Bar & Grille. In the 1990s Island Development Corp. (IDC) constructed the "Regatta Club", an event venue. After two Rhode Island Supreme Court decisions regarding the development, Goat Island South Condominiums took possession of the Regatta Club, leasing it to a third party.[8] In 2006, Longwood Venues and Destinations opened Belle Mer, an event space for private functions, spanning 7.5 acres.
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Fog hornon Goat Island
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Hyatt Hotel on Goat Island. Gurney's took over the property in 2016.
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Marina Bar and Grille is located in the only U.S. Navy building remaining on Goat Island
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Condos on Goat Island, built in 1978 and 1979
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Former home of Thomas Rodgers on Goat Island[clarification needed]
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Harbor Houses on Goat Island
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Harbor Houses on Goat Island
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Belle Mer
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Seawall on Goat Island in Newport, Rhode Island
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Fort George with colonial era Newport in the background
See also
References
- ^ A History of Goat Island, Newport, Rhode Island (PDF). Hyatt Regency Newport. pp. 1–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2013.
- ^ a b Denlson, Frederic; Redi, J. A.; and Reid, R. A.; Narransett Sea and Shore, Providence, RI, 1879; and Seavey, George L.; Rhode Island's Coastal Natural Areas "The Islands". Archived from the original on 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2008-09-28. (accessed Oct. 12, 2009)
- ^ Olden Times Series 5
- ^ Also refer to Gutenberg Library, The Olden Times Series, Volume 5, by Henry M. Brooks.
- ^ a b c Goat Island Military History Archived 2009-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Terry Golway, Washington's general: Nathanael Greene and the triumph of the American Revolution John MacRae Books (Macmillan, 2005), p. 25 [1]
- ^ Solving One of the Greatest Ever Maritime Mysteries, accessed 19 Sept 2018.
- ^ (1) America Condominium Ass'n, Inc., v. IDC, Inc., 844 A.2d 117, 132–133 (R.I.2004) (America I); and (2) America Condominium Ass'n, Inc., v. IDC, Inc., 870 A.2d 434, 443 (R.I. 2005) (America II).
- Denison, Frederic (1879). The Past and the Present: Narragansett Sea and Shore, an Illustrated Guide to Providence, Newport, Narragansett Pier, Block Island, Watch Hill, Rocky Point, Silver Spring, and All the Famous Sea-Side Resorts of Rhode Island, with a Map of Narragansett Bay. Providence: J. A. & R. A. Reid. OCLC 191326002.
- Seavey, George L. (1975). Rhode Island's Coastal Natural Areas: Priorities for Protection and Management. Marine Technical Report 43. Kingston, RI: Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island. OCLC 853036255.
External links
- Prologue: July 19, 1723 from gregflemming.com
- Goat Island South Know the Facts
- "Historic Photos: Goat Island". The Providence Journal. 22 July 2022. Archived from the original on 24 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.