Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Mosquetah (Mosquito Cove)

Mosquetah is a Glen Cove placename remembered in the later English form Mosquito Cove. The name refers to meadows or rushes along the cove or creek, not to the insect. Mosquetah names the Glen Cove/Mosquito Cove landscape on Hempstead Harbor. In William Wallace Tooker's placename study, the name is explained through the extensive meadows and rushes bordering the cove or creek. Glen Cove place-name, its later Mosquito Cove form, and the meadow/rush interpretation are brought together here. Time-specific spelling forms are handled as a Historic Moment. Alternate forms include Mosquetah, Musceata, Muskitoe, Muchito, and Mosquito Cove. The meaning is given as meadow or place of rushes, with comparison to Narragansett and Mohegan forms. Why Place Names Matter “In truth, place-names are a repository of meaning that can offer a view of a people's relationship with its world.”...