Goat Island (Rhode Island)

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Goat Island is a small island which is part of Newport, Rhode Island. The island is home to the Newport Harbor Light (1842), the Marina Bar & Grill, Belle Mer, and the Goat Island South Condominiums.

Goat Island

[edit] History

In colonial times, goats grazed on the island and gave it its name. Several pirates were hanged and buried on the island in its early history. Newport purchased Goat Island in 1673. An earthen fort was built on Goat Island in 1703 during the War of Spanish Succession, and it was named "Fort Anne" after the reigning Queene Anne. In 1738 a stone fort was built by Peter Harrison and renamed "Fort George" after the current King George II.

In 1775 the Fort was renamed Fort Liberty by the revolutionary forces. In 1784 it was repaired and renamed Fort Washington after George Washington. In 1799, Newport sold Goat Island to the federal government for $1,500, to maintain a military fort to defend Newport Harbor. The fort was named Fort Wolcott, in commemoration the services of Rhode Island's War Governor, Oliver Wolcott. In 1869 the Naval Torpedo Station was founded on Goat Island, taking the place of the former Army Fort. The Station was greatly expanded over the next 100 years and produced many of the Navy's Torpedos through World War I and World War II at the island's Navy Torpedo Factory.

In the 1960s, Goat Island was sold to a private developer and the Hyatt Hotel, Belle Mer, and the Goat Island South Condominiums were later built over the next several decades.