Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Maspeth / Mespaetches

Maspeth, recorded in older forms such as Mespaetches, is a Queens placename tied to Newtown Creek and its former swamp landscape. William Wallace Tooker links Mespaetches with the fuller historical form behind Maspeth. The name was originally associated with a swamp and creek in western Queens, now represented by Newtown Creek and the modern Maspeth area. The placename appears in a New Netherland land transaction involving the West India Company and the land between Rinnegakonck and Mespaechtes. Later spellings include Mespatchis Kil, Mespachtes Kil, Mespacht, Mespaat, Mespath, Maspeth, and Mashpath. The interpretation connects the name with bad water or an overflowed tidal swamp place. That reading fits the low, swampy Newtown Creek landscape, where high tides could back water into the area. Why Place Names Matter “A name is one of the most fundamental ways to identify and give...