Block Island explores the evolution of the small, 7-by-3-mile island that lies between Point Judith, Rhode Island, and Montauk Point, New York. In 1637, Block Island, also known as "New Shoreham," was claimed by Massachusetts soldiers who took the land away from the Manisses Indians. When the island was sold to 16 proprietors in 1660, the history of Block Island as part of Rhode Island began. At any time of the year, Block Island has a special look and charm of its own. In addition to its beautiful sandy beaches and thundering surf, the island is plentiful with rolling hills, fertile valleys, and ponds. Within these pages, meet the early residents of the island and learn how this farming and fishing community first developed as a summer resort destination in the late 1800s. Summer scenes from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including views of the steamers that arrived daily carrying thousands of passengers from New York, Connecticut, and other parts of Rhode Island, are also featured in this collection.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1877.

Block Island, in the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of New England, is further from other land -- from the mainland or other islands -- than any other town along the 1,800 mile eastern coast of the United States. Isolated from neighbors, with no harbor until the late 19th century, Block Island evolved differently. Each chapter of Block Island, The Sea stands alone, providing one or more stories, and the scholarly research to go with it, about this little town -- currently with 850 year-round inhabitants whose singular preference is to be completely surrounded by salt water. Subjects include fishing, piracy, lighthouses, hurricane. shipwrecks and more. Fully indexed, and with over 200 images.