Did You Know? How the Brandywine River Got Its Name

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Brandywine River
The Brandywine River near Chadds Ford. The 80-mile long river is one of four waterways being considered for Pennsylvania's 2017 River of the Year. (Image via Chester County Planning Commission)

Historians aren’t sure where the Brandywine River got its name or who named it.

According to the river’s entry on Wikipedia, The Lenape indians called the creek Wauwaset, Wawasiungh, or Wawassan, and other Native American names for it included Suspecough and Trancocopanican.

Early settlers from Sweden, Finland, and Netherlands called the creek Fiskiekylen, or “Fish Creek”.

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The Dutch heritage is also reflected in Fiske Creek and variant names using the Dutch word “Kill” or stream, Bainwend Kill, Brandewyn Kill, and Brandywine Kill.

The creek’s current name may be from an old Dutch word for brandy or gin, brandewijn, or from the name of an early mill owner, Andreas Brainwende or Brantwyn.

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Pennsylvania’s first Surveyor General Thomas Holme’s 1687 map of Pennsylvania gives the river’s name as simply Brandy Wine and shows it flowing into Christian Creek and then the ‘Dellaware River.’

While the origin of the name is unclear, no one disputes the 80 mile-long Brandywine River is a beautiful recreation and environmental sanctuary that deserves Pennsylvania’s 2017 River of the Year award!

You can help the Brandywine win that distinction by casting your vote now.

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