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Vermont Place Names
When you visit the Green Mountain State, Ompompanoosic, Memphremagog,
Ottauquechee and Okemo evoke memories of the the native Americans who once lived in what
was to become Vermont. Harold Meeks, author of Time and Change
in Vermont, builds on the research of Ester Swift and archaeologist John C.
Huden, to list the origins for many place names. The table below gives a sampling of some
of these. The Abenaki were also known as the People of the Dawn in the Algonquin Nation.
| Place |
Origin |
Description |
| Monadnock Mountain |
Abenaki |
mountain which sticks up like an island |
| Winooski City/River |
Abenaki |
wild onion |
| Passumpsic River |
Abenaki |
clear sandy bottom |
| Nulhegan River |
Abenaki |
my log trap |
| Ompompanoosic River |
Abenaki |
at the place of the mushy, quaky land |
| Okemo Mountain |
Chippewa |
a chieftain |
| Maquam |
Abenaki |
a beaver |
| Sadawga Pond |
Mohawk |
swiftly flowing water |
| Shatterack Mountain |
Pocumtuck |
big mountain |
Source: Harold A. Meeks, Time and
Change in Vermont, A Human Geography, The Globe Pequot Press, Chester, CT 1986
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