Galilee is a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

village on Point Judith within the town of

Narragansett, Rhode Island Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 14,532 at the 2020 census. However, during the summer months the town's population more than doubles to near 34,000. The town of Narragansett occupie ...

, United States, and is notable for being home to the largest fishing fleet in Rhode Island and for being the site of the

Block Island Block Island is an island of the Outer Lands coastal archipelago in New England, located approximately south of mainland Rhode Island and east of Long Island's Montauk Point. The island is coterminous with the town of New Shoreham, Rhode Isl ...

Ferry. The village is directly across the harbor from

Jerusalem, Rhode Island Jerusalem is a fishing village within the town of Narragansett, Rhode Island, United States, on Point Judith. It is across the harbor from Galilee. It is named after the Biblical city of Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Lev ...

. Galilee, Rhode Island is named after the Biblical

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

, which was the original home region of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, who grew up in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, a village in the Galilee region of Israel on the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

. Four of Jesus' disciples,

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, James and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, were fishermen from Galilee. Today, the port of Galilee is responsible for transporting over 16 million pounds of seafood and shellfish each year. Part of the town of Narragansett (population 15,868 in 2010), Galilee experiences significant seasonal population fluctuation and has been known to double in size in the summer months. As summer brings warmer weather, tourists come from all over to visit various state beaches, relax at private beach clubs, take the ferry to Block Island, and charter boats to go fishing or whale watching.

History

The village received its name " 1902, the story goes, Thomas Mann a fisherman from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

who had settled here, felt the village that had sprung up with its fishing shacks should be called Galilee, after the fishing village of

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

times. One day, an old timer sat on the docks repairing his nets when a stranger called out to him, "Where am I". The answer was "Galilee". "And what is that?" the stranger asked pointing to the other side of the channel. The old timer thought for a minute, nodded his head and replied, "must be Jerusalem". And so the name of Galilee and Jerusalem have been used since to denote a most picturesque part of Rhode Island." In the nineteenth-century the area had developed as a fishing village, and in the early twentieth century, the State dredged the breachway and constructed stone

jetties A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signif ...

. Later the Army Corps of Engineers constructed three mile long breakwaters to provide a safe harbor of refuge for ships traveling between New York and Boston if they encountered bad weather. Recently on Saturday, July 11, 2015, a mysterious explosion at Galilee's Salty Brine State Beach injured two people. This explosion was suspected to be caused by a reaction between an abandoned copper cable located under the sand and an unusually large quantity of hydrogen in that location. Local residents described the sound as similar to the explosion of a grenade. One individual was thrown over 10 feet away by the blast, resulting in two fractured ribs among other lesser injuries. On Tuesday, March 14, 2017, a 100-foot tall wind turbine located in Galilee Rhode Island was toppled over by an intense winter storm. Strong winds snapped the turbines supporting metal structure in half. Along with the snow, strong winds, and toppled wind turbine, many of the households in Galilee suffered from a loss of power due to this storm. The turbine was reported to have toppled around 11:00 am. Shortly after, around noon, the town's loss of power followed.

Attractions

Today Galilee remains home to the largest fishing fleet in Rhode Island with commercial fishermen and lobstermen as well as deep sea fish cruises. Due to the high volume of fishermen, it is often easy to find fresh

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

and

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

to purchase off the dock directly from boats, as well as in shops and restaurants. There are over 10 seafood restaurants in the village of Galilee and there is also access to the Salty Brine State Beach. This beach, along with Roger Wheeler State Beach and Scarborough State Beach, span the coast of Galilee and are divided up by private beaches, beach clubs, and fishing docks. Kayaking, fishing, and sight-seeing are some of the most common activities to do at the beaches in Galilee, with not only

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

s but gray seals,

harp seal The harp seal (''Pagophilus groenlandicus''), also known as the saddleback seal or Greenland seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus '' Phoca'' with a ...

s, and

hooded seal The hooded seal or bladdernose seal (''Cystophora cristata'') is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic, ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. The seals are typically silver-grey ...

s frequently spotted around the area. Other popular places in the port of Galilee to visit include the 100-foot tall wind turbine, the Point Judith lighthouse and Fisherman's Memorial State Park. The Block Island Ferry operates out of Galilee, going back and forth over 13 miles between

and Galilee in under an hour.

References

External links

Narragansett, RI: Port of Galilee
{{Coord, 41, 22, 38, N, 71, 30, 37, W, type:city_region:US-RI_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Villages in Washington County, Rhode Island Villages in Rhode Island Narragansett, Rhode Island