Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Gowanus

Gowanus is a Brooklyn placename for the historic creek, bay, and locality recorded in early Dutch colonial records as Gowanus, Gowanes, and Gouwanes. Although Gowanus is a deeply familiar neighborhood name to modern Brooklyn residents, its origins as a traditional Indigenous place name for the lands stretching down to Bay Ridge are frequently overlooked. Acknowledging the Native roots of such everyday locations reveals how the foundational geography of Long Island was established and named long before European settlement. Gowanus is the traditional placename for lands that spanned present-day Gowanus to the north down to Bay Ridge. Recorded forms include Gowanus, Gowanes, and Gouwanes. The available Tooker text is truncated before a full variant list or secure translation, so the meaning remains uncertain. Why Place Names Matter “A place is given a name ‘for something important...