#AtoZ Stay Home! Wear a Mask! “A” is for APPONAUG

~ Martha Reynolds

It seemed appropriate this year to feature a theme that kept me close to home, so I give you my A to Z within the small acreage that is Rhode Island. I tried to be creative (you’ll see!) but I hope you learn something about Little Rhody, too. Whether you’ve lived here all your life, grew up within the boundaries, or have never set foot on one of our many beaches, come along for a virtual tour.

photo by Martha Reynolds

A small brook runs through the village of Apponaug (APP-un-awg), emptying into Apponaug Cove, then into Greenwich Bay and eventually Narragansett Bay. The meaning of the Narraganset word “Apponaug” is oyster, or shellfish, which would make sense, as there used to be loads of clams and quahogs, scallops and oysters just beneath the mud in Apponaug Cove. Originally inhabited by sub-tribes of the Narragansett nation, Opponenauhock, now Apponaug, was a popular and thriving place for the Native Americans who lived there for centuries before European settlers arrived in the area.

Apponaug is a neighborhood in the city of Warwick, located in the center of Rhode Island. Post Road (Route 1) runs right through Apponaug, and Post Road is part of the Old Pequot Path.

Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, traveled the Old Pequot Path (Post Road) from Providence down to Cocumscussoc, near present-day Wickford, in 1636. He would have traveled right through Apponaug.

Warwick City Hall

The Warwick City Hall is located in Apponaug, as are the city’s police and fire headquarters. There’s a branch of the Warwick Public Library, and the Warwick Center for the Arts, formerly the Warwick Art Museum. For locals, Apponaug has provided some of the city’s biggest traffic headaches, and for most residents, it’s hard to remember a time when the traffic patterns didn’t cause problems. From two-way streets to a one-way circulator, now Apponaug has rotaries, or roundabouts, that continue to stymie some drivers.

photo by Martha Reynolds

Published by Martha Reynolds

I am the bestselling author of nine novels, including the Swiss Chocolate trilogy and VILLA DEL SOL, which won the 2018 Book Award in Literary Fiction from the Independent Publishers of New England. My newest series includes the books A JINGLE VALLEY WEDDING, APRIL IN GALWAY, and ALL’S WELL IN JINGLE VALLEY. Find my books online at Amazon, locally at Stillwater Books (Pawtucket, Rhode Island) and Ink Fish Books (Warren, Rhode Island).

30 thoughts on “#AtoZ Stay Home! Wear a Mask! “A” is for APPONAUG”

  4. Seeing we can’t travel far I will enjoy exploring your island. I must say I have never heard of Apponaug but the oysters must have been good in the days before European settlement. Are there any still on the island and can you eat them?

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  10. Nice job – as always – Miss Martha! Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Martha Reynolds WritesSent: Thursday, April 1, 2021 3:03 AMTo: nancylemoi@gmail.comSubject: [New post] #AtoZ Stay Home! Wear a Mask! “A” is for APPONAUG Martha Reynolds posted: " It seemed appropriate this year to feature a theme that kept me close to home, so I give you my A to Z within the small acreage that is Rhode Island. I tried to be creative (you’ll see!) but I hope you learn something about Little Rhody, too. Whether you"

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  11. Like you, I have lived my entire life in Rhode Island. Also like many Rhode Islanders, I have lived in only a handful of places, three, actually: my childhood home, a tenement house in Central Falls where I lived with my parents until I married at twenty-three, a year-and-a-half in a small apartment in Pawtucket, and the past forty-three years in our cozy city ranch in North Providence. Never Warwick. The traffic alone keeps me away, and that rotary! A nightmare. I dread it.

    I’m sure that you will come up with many places new even to me in the next few weeks, an adventure I know I will enjoy alongside you and your other readers. Happy trails.

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  14. Hi, Martha,
    it’s funny to read all the names of English towns and cities around Apponaug.
    I taught for a short time at Warwick Universty, Warwick/England.
    All the best. Happy Easter
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  16. I swear I will meet my maker in a roundabout and drivers have only gotten worse during COVID. Your City hall looks just like our old one (which is now a nursing home) but we did not have the tower.

    Just finished one of Julien Ayotte’s novels, watched the latest episodes of This Old house where they rebuilt a home in Narragansett, so I am ready for a tour of your state. Drive on.

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  17. Hari OM
    LOL… oh yes, roundabouts…even in places where they’ve been for a century, there are drivers who just can’t work ’em!!! Love that red building against that blue, blue sky. Thank you for introducing us to your place, with such lovely, lyrical names to conjure up a different world! YAM xx
    (you’ll find me AZing in four different places via my linktree… one of them may tickle your fancy in return!)

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