Patience Island, shown in red, in the inner part of Narragansett Bay.
Patience Island lies in Narragansett Bay off the northwest coast of Prudence Island in the town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. At their closest point, the two islands are only 900 feet (274m) apart.[1] Patience Island has a land area of 247 acres (100ha; 0.386sqmi; 1.00km2), making it the fourth-largest island in Narragansett Bay. Its highest point is an unnamed location in the west central part of the island at 41°39′23″N071°21′43″W / 41.65639°N 71.36194°W / 41.65639; -71.36194 which is 45 feet (13.7m) above sea level.[2]
Population
Aside from a single 600-square-foot (56m2) house, which is disconnected from the state electrical grid, Patience Island is uninhabited.[3] Built in 1972, the house sold for $365,000 in 2021[4]
Flora and fauna
Patience Island is densely overgrown with vines and brush. Brier, Asiatic bittersweet, and poison ivy cover much of the island. Tall shrubs – most commonly bayberry, highbush blueberry, and shadbush — dominate the landscape, interspersed with red cedar and black cherry trees, although a deciduous forest gradually is replacing the shrub habitat in some parts of the island. A small salt marsh lies on the southeastern shore of the island and provides a habitat for seablite, which is common elsewhere in the United States but rare in Rhode Island.[1]
A New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) is released on Patience Island on October30, 2014.
Patience Island is populated by a warren of New England cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus transitionalis) thanks to a species restoration program related to the animal's candidacy for listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[5] In 2021, one New England cottontail on the island tested positive for tularemia.[6]
By the mid-17th century, the Patience Island Farm was in operation, and it covered approximately 200 acres (81ha) of the 247-acre (100ha) island. British forces burned the farm buildings during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After the war, the buildings were rebuilt and the farm resumed operations.[1]
By the late 18th century, oyster beds were leased in the upper Narrgansett Bay, and probably around that time a house was constructed along the northwest shore of Patience Island for a watchman who monitored the oyster beds. The foundation of the house has survived in good condition as an archaeological site.[1]
Eventually the island came into the possession of Arthur Steere (1865–1943), a Rhode Island politician, businessman, and landowner. Although Steere never lived on the island, his descendants Earle and Clark Steere of The Warwick Cove Marina were the last people to live in the farmhouse on the island.[citation needed]
The farm survived until the early 20th century. During the 1960s, construction of a summer resort colony on the island began. It was never completed, but the construction work inflicted a considerable amount of damage to the sites of the early farm buildings.[1]
Accessibility
People are allowed to visit Patience Island, but camping is not permitted. There is no ferry service to the island, and its trails often are overgrown with vegetation.[1]
