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Stories have been around for as long as people have existed to tell them. Evolving from images on walls, to the spoken word, to the written word, and all the combinations in between.

Some stories were told to try and explain the greatest mysteries of the day. Others helped alleviate fears that lingered in people’s minds. Everywhere these different cultures went, their stories went with them. Block Island is no different.

The Palatine Light

The waters around Block Island are no stranger to shipwrecks. They’ve always led to a bevy of stories by locals and visitors alike, whether there’s mystery surrounding them or not. In the case of the Palatine light – a cargo ship that had been refitted for this trip to carry people over – supposed sightings of a ghost ship on fire have inspired their own tales for years. It wasn’t long before those stories became legend.

Some versions detail how local Block Islanders of the time rescued an unknown number of survivors and nurtured them back to health in spite of all the horrors suffered while on deck. Others talk about how the origins of the pyre may have been started accidentally by islanders lighting false signal fires. The first sighting of the Palatine came one year after it sank, the mass of the hull and fluttering sails emerging from the flames that originally brought it down.

The Lost Treasure of Captain Kidd

Pirates and Block Island have an interesting history together. You can read one of our past blogs here to learn about the richest pirate in history. The Robin Hood of the Seas was not the only pirate to leave his mark on Block Island, though.

Captain William Kidd started off in 1696 as a successful New York businessman with all the trimmings. Being friends with some powerful politicians led to being commissioned to the Indian Ocean where he sailed the line between privateer and pirate. While Kidd’s tale ends with him being shipped to a dungeon in London, what happened to his treasure is a different story all its own. He was on Block Island around the time he was known to be distributing his treasures. Does that mean it’s still here? Maybe you’ll be the one to find out.

The Block Ness Monster

Few things are as good at keeping secrets as Mother Nature. It seems like under every new leaf you turn over you find a footprint belonging to something not previously recorded, hear a sound no one’s heard before, or even see a creature that simply shouldn’t exist. This is true whether on land or sea, and Block Island is no different. One legend in particular is the Block Ness Monster.

Pulled up by fishermen on the Mad Monk in 1996, the fourteen-foot unknown, serpent-like creature embedded itself in the minds of the locals almost immediately. What do these bones belong to? Is it a basking shark? How long has it been here? Are there more of them living under the sea, or is this the last? Before any more research or experimentation could be done – and not long after the discovery was made – the remains were stolen, leaving these questions and more unanswered.

Today, stories are so intimately tied into our everyday life that entirely new communities were formed around them. People from all walks of life can come together and talk over a shared love of an upcoming movie or book series.

The stories we tell do more than provide entertainment. They continually add layers to a community until it’s practically bursting with a personality all its own. A personality created almost entirely by the people and families that have called it home for generations and will continue to do so for generations more.

Write Down Your Favorite Tale, and Sail Away…