Dutch Island (Rhode Island)

Fort Greble
Part of Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay
Dutch Island, Rhode Island
A 10-inch disappearing gun at Fort Greble.
Fort Greble Location in Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°30′14″N 71°24′00″W / 41.50389°N 71.40000°W / 41.50389; -71.40000
Type	Coastal Defense, later POW camp
Site information
Owner	Rhode Island Dept of Environmental Management
Open to the public	yes
Condition	good
Site history
Built	circa 1895
Built by	United States Army Corps of Engineers
In use	1897-1947
Battles/wars	World War I, World War II

Dutch Island is an island lying west of Conanicut Island at an entrance to Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, United States. The island is a part of the town of Jamestown, Rhode Island, and has a land area of 0.4156 km² (102.7 acres). It was uninhabited as of the 2000 census. The island was fortified from the American Civil War through World War II, and was known as Fort Greble 1898-1947.

Dutch Island's Indian name was Quotenis or Quetenesse. Around 1636 Abraham Pietersen van Deusen of the Dutch West India Company established a trading post on the island to trade with the Narragansett Indians, trading Dutch goods, cloths, implements, and liquors for the Indians' furs, fish, and venison. Several years later the Dutch built Fort Ninigret in what is now Charlestown. In 1654 English colonists purchased the island from the Indians. In 1825 the federal government acquired 6 acres (24,000 m²) at the southern end of the island, and on January 1, 1827, Dutch Island Light was established to mark the west passage of Narragansett Bay and to aid vessels entering Dutch Island Harbor. The first 30-foot (9.1 m) tower was built of stones found on the island. The government constructed a new 42-foot (13 m) brick tower in 1857 with a fog bell added in 1878. As of 2007, the island is part of the Bay Islands Park system of Rhode Island owned by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM). The island is easily accessible by kayak today off the coast of Conanicut Island (Jamestown). No remnants of the Dutch trading post exist today, but a lighthouse and military buildings remain on the island.

Although it is illegal for a private citizen unaffiliated with the lighthouse restoration society to land on the island, RIDEM does not strictly enforce the ban unless illegal deer hunting is reported.