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It is located mostly within the territory of the State of Rhode Island, although an arm of the fjord, Mount Hope Bay, extends into Massachusetts and is the waterfront for the city of Fall River.

The largest cities in the State of Rhode Island have their waterfronts on the bay. Providence, the state capital and its largest city, sits on the west side of the head of the northern most arm of the bay. Newport is on Aquidneck Island.

Early history

The first recorded by visit by Europeans to the bay was probably in the early 16th century. At the time, the area around the bay was inhabited by two different and distinct groups of natives. The Naragansetts occupied the west side of the bay. The Wampanoag lived on the east side, occupying the land out to Cape CodCape Cod (1033 km²) is an arm-shaped peninsula forming the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. It is coextensive with Barnstable County. Although Cape Cod was originally connected to the mainland, the firs.

It is accepted by most historians that first contact by Europeans was made by Giovanni da VerrazanoGiovanni da Verrazano (his last name is also spelled Verrazzano) was born, on his family's castle, Castello Verrazzano, near Val di Greve, 30 miles south of Florence. His date of birth is uncertain, but was around 1485. Upon reaching his majority (also ar, who entered the bay in his ship La Dauphine in 1524Events March 1, 1524/ 5 Giovanni da Verrazano lands near Cape Fear (approx. April 30 Battle of the Sesia Spanish forces under Charles de Lannoy defeat the French army in Italy under William de Bonnivet. The French, now commanded by Francois de St. Pol, wi after visiting New York BayNew York Bay is the collective term for the marine areas surrounding the entrance of the Hudson River into the Atlantic Ocean. Its two largest components are Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay, which are connected by the Narrows. The term New York. Verrazano called the bay "Refugio". The bay has several entrances, however, and the exact route of his voyage and the location where laid anchor is still a subject of dispute among historians, leading to a corresponding uncertainty over which tribe made contact with him (see [1], [2]).

In 1614Events April 5 In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe. October 11 Adriaen Block and a group of Amsterdam merchants petition the States General for exclusive trading rights in the area he explored and named " New Nether, the bay was later explored and mapped by the DutchDutch redirects here. For other uses, see Dutch (disambiguation). The Netherlands ( Dutch: Nederland is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy. It is located in northwestern Europe and borders the North Sea, Belgium navigator Adriaen BlockAdriaen Block (fl. 1610- 1624) was a Dutch navigator who explored the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during the 1610s following the 1609 expedition by Henry Hudson. He is noted for establishing early trade, after whom nearby Block IslandBlock Island is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, a fragment of glacial terminal moraine approximately ten miles off the coast of Rhode Island, of which it is part, and from which it is separated by Block Island Sound. In 1524, it was sighted by Giovanni d is named.

The first recorded European settlement was in the 1630's. Roger Williams, a dissatisfied member of the Plymouth Colony, moved into the area around the year 1635. He made contact with the Narragansett and set up a trading post on the west side of the bay. At the same time, the Dutch had established a trading post approximately 12 miles to the southwest which was under the authority of New Amsterdam in New York Bay.

In 1643, Williams traveled to England and was granted a charter for the new colony of Rhode Island. He also wrote a dictionary of the Narragansett language, Keys to the Indian Language,which was published in England that same year.