All the news the New York Times "forgot" - to print

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Was Rhode Island named after Greece?

The Island of Rhodes (in blue, left) bears a striking resemblance to Rhode Island's Aquidneck Island (right)

Wikipedia has an fascinating take on why the "Rhode" is in the Rhode Island's name:


The state's common name, Rhode Island, actually refers to the largest island in Narragansett Bay, also known as Aquidneck Island, on which the city of Newport is located. The origin of the name is unclear. Some historians think that Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, upon discovering Block Island, just southwest in the Atlantic Ocean, named it Rhode Island because of its similarity in shape to the Greek island of Rhodes. Later settlers, mistaking which island Verrazzano was referring to, gave the name to Aquidneck Island instead. Other historians believe that the name is derived from Roodt Eylandt, Dutch for "red island," given to the island by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block due to the red clay on the island's shore.

1 Comments:

Blogger QueenOfLillyFlowers said...

You know your history! Did you once stop in Rhode island?

Saturday, 24 September, 2005  

Post a Comment

<< Home