Winnacunnet Explained

Winnacunnet is a word derived from one of the Algonquian languages and may mean "beautiful place in the pines".^[1] Other sources suggest a meaning of "place of pines" or "beautiful long place."^[2]

The word has been transliterated in a variety of ways. Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop used the spelling "Winicowettas". A Hampton Union article from circa 1959 mentions "Winnacunnet", "Winnicunnet", "Wenicunnett", "Winnicummet", and "Winicumet" among the variations.^[3]

In 1638, the "Plantation of Winnicunnet" was founded by Reverend Stephen Bachiler and others from Massachusetts. The following spring, the town was renamed Hampton.

See also

• Winnecunnet Pond, also known as Lake Winnecunnet, Norton, Massachusetts.
• Winnacunnet High School, a school in Hampton, New Hampshire (a town originally known as the "Plantation of Winnacunnet").^[4]

Notes and References

1. http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/recreation/dramaofwinnacunnet.htm The Drama of Winnacunnet
2. http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/dow/chap1/dow1_3.htm Joseph Dow's History of Hampton: Winnacunnet
3. http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/winnacunnet.htm "Winnacunnet" or Winnicunnet"
4. http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/dow/chap1/dow1_3.htm The Drama of Winnacunnet