Block Island is an American coastal island just offshore of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The island is almost nine miles south of the United States mainland. It is fourteen miles east of the Montauk Point area of Long Island in New York. It was named in the 1600s for the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block. Block Island is included in Washington County in southwestern Rhode Island. It shares the same area as the town of New Shoreham.