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Answers to Queries

Swedes Knew This Ci

Please give a history of Tacony, and how it was named. (L. P. W.) Tacony long antedated the other townships of Philadelphia County, being the name of the Swedish district along the Delaware river above the Old City, but was shortlived as such. It was incorporated in Oxford Township soon after 1684 and lost its identity as a district. In 1677 the Swedish court at Upland ; found a total of 51 taxable persons resided in the District of Taokafink (Tacony), which embraced all the territory on the Delaware to the east of Carkoens Hook (Darby Creek). These included the famous Rambo, Swanson, Fish, Peterson, and Cox families. Tacony apparently takes its name from the Delaware Indian term for the Little Tacony CreekTawacawomink. It is usual to ascribe the origin of Tacony to the Lenape "Tekene," meaning woods, but in view of the word for Little Tacony creek, "Tauwatawik" (wilderness) is probably more correct. Both come from the same stem, meaning "an uninhabited place." Under the English, early settlers included the Lardner, Penrose, Castor and Gatzmer families but the modern development of Tacony (after 1870) is due to the genius of Henry Disston (1819-78), manufacturer, who triumphed over many difficulties to found a great factory town. Old inns at the terminus of the Trenton R. R. there included the Washington Hotel and the Buttermilk Tavern.