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.
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.

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.

M!!! Great series theme………I am so excited to finally get around to this! Apponaug; I lived there for a few years and still have to announce when I enter and exit the “‘Naug!!”
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Look at you, Dennis, reading and commenting on my A to Z posts! Thank you!
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Like the architecture. 😀 I am sure I will enjoy this tour.
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I love the picture of City Hall
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Those rotaries get people every time. We have tons of them in Maine too. Weekends In Maine
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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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Oh, great theme and first post! I know nothing about Rhode Island, so I’m very happy to learn!
Quilting Patchwork & Appliqué
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Thank you!
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Excellent start to this year’s challenge, Martha. I’m really looking forward to ‘visiting’ Rhode Island this month!
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Thanks, Wendy! And I’m sure you’ll recognize a few town/city names as well.
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Looks like a really charming village, and a great name! Enjoying my tour so far, looking forward to see where we stop off next 🙂
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You’ll know Rhode Island like a native by the end of April, Iain!
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Loved it!
I love the way you mixed history and more ‘personal’, local colours 🙂
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter – The Great War
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Thank you! Heading over to visit your blog…
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Great start to AtoZ, Martha. I am drawn to little towns. Most have big values. Thanks for introducing this one.
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Cheers, Jacqui!
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Nice job â as always â 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! âAâ 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 (youâll see!) but I hope you learn something about Little Rhody, too. Whether you"
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Thank you, Nancy! This was a fun theme!
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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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I had a lot of fun with this one, Connie! Thank you.
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for some reason i was unable to comment? weird. I didn’t say anything inappropriate. I’ll try again 🙂 Lori
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It took this time!
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This sounds like a fun adventure…educational too! I didn’t know Apponaug means oyster.
Thank you.
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Helen, now you can eat oysters at the Crow’s Nest!
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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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Thank you! Yes, lots of English place names mixed in with Native American names!
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Martha,
This is going to be great fun! I can’t wait to visit some of these places over the next few months.
https://bethlapinsatozblog.wordpress.com/
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Thanks, Beth. Looking forward to yours as well. I had fun traipsing around the state!
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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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Thanks, Denise. I missed that episode of This Old House, but I’ll go search it out. Enjoyed your ‘Argentina’ post!
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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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I’ll go find you – thank you, Yamini!
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