As a matter of course, some of the early names of places in and around
Massachusetts Bay were Indian names or corruptions, until others were
applied, as Shawmut, Mishawam, Mattapan, Winnisimmet, and others. The name
of Plymouth, of course, the Pilgrims brought with them, as the Puritans
did the name of Salem and of Boston. But just how the name of
Massachusetts originated is not so well known. It was no doubt of Indian
origin; and if derived from the "greatest king of the Indians," Massasoit,
or, as Hutchinson says, Massasoiet,[3] it is well that it has been so
preserved and perpetuated. Among the earliest English names, besides these
mentioned, were the names applied to the islands, as Noddle's Island,
which possibly was given to it by Maverick, and Bird Island, in 1630;
Lovell's Island, in 1635, and several others. The names of Blackstone,
Maverick, and Walford,[4] the original settlers of Boston, Noddle's
Island, and Charlestown, have all been preserved in the names of streets,
banks, &c., although two of them (Blackstone and Walford) were driven
away, and the third, though living almost alone on Noddle's Island, being
an Episcopalian, was rather severely treated in the general persecutions
of the time. Of the Indian names, only a few of them have been preserved,
and are in common use, and among them Shawmut, Mishawam, Winnisimmet, and
possibly one or two others. In the list of nearly two thousand names of
streets, places, &c., only three Indian names are to be found, namely,
Shawmut, Oneida, and Ontario.
But perhaps the most curious peculiarity prevailed with regard to the
naming of streets, places, taverns, trades, &c., in Boston, before King
Street and Queen Street had been named, and after they had passed away.
King Street gave way to State Street; Queen Street, which at an earlier
date had been called Prison Lane, gave way to Court Street: still some of
the old English names remain. Marlborough, Newbury, and Orange, all
English names, gave way to that of Washington, and this street has now
been extended, under its latest name, from Haymarket Square (Mill Creek)
to Brookline (Muddy Brook). Formerly it extended from the Gate at the Neck
to Dock Square, and bore the name of Orange Street from the Gate to
Eliot's Corner (Essex Street); Newbury Street from Eliot's Corner to
Bethune's Corner (West Street); Marlborough Street from thence to Haugh's
Corner (School Street); and Cornhill from thence to Dock Square.