Narragansett Bay Reserve, Rhode Island

Cultural History

Prudence and Patience islands appear to have been rather peripheral to the main districts of Narragansett Indian activity. When Roger Williams entered the areas, Prudence and Patience islands were at the eastern edge of the Naragansett territory, which extended over most of modern Rhode Island.

In general, the historic and archaeological references suggest occasional uses of these islands for specific resources, but they do not indicate that there were large Native American settlements on either Prudence or Patience islands. A number of factors may account for the presence of only a small number of Native Americans on this island. Prudence may be just smaller enough than Conanicut for example, to have made permanent settlement impossible, as they could not offer the resources necessary to provide incentive to make the long and possibly dangerous canoe trip to and from the mainland.

Although the Narragansett Indians claimed Prudence Island in 1637, the Wampanoags, who inhabited the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay also laid claim to the island at a later date. Low population levels have continued from the initial period of European settlement in the 17th century to the present. An agricultural economy was established on Prudence and the other bay islands before the Revolution, but in 1776 and 1777 the residents left the island and most of the island's homes and a windmill were burned as were two homes on Patience Island in 1776. In the same year, a British schooner went aground between Prudence and Patience and was blown up.

After the Revolutionary War, Prudence Island slowly returned to an agricultural existence, largely devoted to grazing, with some grain being raised as well. There were fewer than two dozen families inhabiting the island. At the end of the 19th century, Prudence, like other parts of the Rhode Island bay and shore, attracted summer residents. Around 1876, two cottages were built along the west side of the island, and by the end of the century, Prudence Park, which was served by a steamboat from Providence, contained more than three dozen cottages. In 1896, a school, the fourth on Prudence, was built in the center of the island.

In 1904, the present ferry from Bristol was started by Halsey Chase, who ran a hotel on the island. A wharf built on the east side in 1909 by the Herreshoff's helped engender a summer settlement, and later, a wharf was built at Sandy Point. In 1921, the Prudence Island Navigation Company was chartered and regular trips to the island began, helping to precipitate a prosperous era in the island's history; eventually, a string of "colonies," or settlements sprang up along the eastern shore of Prudence. In the summer months residents and visitors reach a maximum of 2000 people on a holiday weekend. There are approximately 200 year-round residents.