Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Muskyttehool (Flatlands)

Muskyttehool is a Flatlands, Kings County placename for a pool or wet place where rushes grew. The popular Musquito hole explanation is best understood as a misunderstanding of a rush-place name. Muskyttehool names a locality at Flatlands in Brooklyn. The name is explained as a hybrid form: an Algonquian rush-place word joined to the English word hole. Flatlands locality and the rush-place interpretation are brought together here. The source context here is interpretive rather than a separate time-specific occurrence. The name is interpreted as a pool of water where rushes grow. Musquito hole is treated as a later popular misunderstanding rather than the source of the name. The history cross-references Mosquetah and Musquatax for related rush-place forms. Why Place Names Matter “Mapping, in this context, is not about naming for ownership, it is about recognising and respecting...