RI’s Ultra-Private Island Owned by Raimondo’s Former Business Partner
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Sometime around 1659, it is reported that Pequots sold the small island Nonequasset off Bissell Cove in North Kingstown to Samuel Gorton and Randall Holden. Gorton is known as the founder of Warwick.
The island had a multitude of native names, but today it is known as Fox Island.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTPresently the entire Island is owned by a Rhode Island corporation controlled by venture capitalist David Mixer.
The island is actually part of North Kingstown. According to town tax records, Mixer's company purchased the island in 2000 for just $725,000 -- today the entire island, the main house, and a series of other structures are appraised for just over $1.7 million
Mixer made tens of millions as a founding partner at Columbia Capital in the 1990s — a venture capital firm focused on the communications industry which now claims to have raised $4.8 billion. At Columbia, he was a partner in the firm with now-U.S. Senator Mark Warner. Previous to his tenure at Columbia, he worked for the Providence-Journal Corporation. Efforts to reach Mixer were unsuccessful.
The Point Judith Capital Years -- Cofounder with Gina Raimondo
Later, he was a co-founder of Point Judith Capital along with now U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
Point Judith web records show Mixer and Raimondo remained partners for nearly a decade until Raimondo ran for Rhode Island General Treasurer in 2010.
According to Crunchbase, "Dave also founded Rex Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on technology investments. In his career, he has been a member of the investment committee for 77 investments, for an aggregate of over $400 million invested and in excess of $1 billion returned. Dave is currently serving as a mentor to investors and entrepreneurs." Rex Capital, located in Providence is managing over $800 million, according to WallMine.com.
An Incomplete History
The island’s history has many gaps but also some intriguing history.
"In 1880, Rev. William Pendleton Chapman, the pastor at Quidnessett Church, used the island as a setting for one of the many children’s books he wrote. In Budd Boyd’s Triumph: The Boy Firm of Fox Island, he spun adventurous tales of two boys who lived in an abandoned house on the island and sailed Narragansett Bay in their boat, Sea Witch, surviving by selling fish and clams to locals and taking out sailing parties. Their stories consisted of brushes with jewel thieves and jails,” wrote the South County Independent in 2010.
Fox Island is just one of a series of islands across the bay with rich and mysterious histories. See the other stories of RI's islands below.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misidentified Bissel Cove's location - it is in North Kingstown.
Related Articles
- The Mystery of RI’s Pancake and Gingerbread Islands
- The Allure and Dangers of Rhode Island’s Dutch Island
