History of the Olentangy

The Original Name:

It was originally called keenhongsheconsepung, a Delaware word literally translated as "stone for your knife stream" based on the shale found along its shores.


(Source: Wikipedia)

History of the Name:

The river's name has an interesting history. Olentangy was a name given to this river in 1833 by a legislative act that was attempting to restore Native American names to certain rivers in the state. The word Olentangy literally means 'River Of Red Face Paint'. This name actually belonged to Big Darby Creek further to the west, where Wyandotte of the Columbus area got their red face paint. The Olentangy River should have been named the Whetstone River. The Whetstone name was assigned to the Whetstone Creek, which is the largest tributary of the Olentangy River.  Both Native Americans and early settlers used the black Ohio and Olentangy shale found along the river for whetstones to sharpen their tools.

(Source: Olentangy Watershed Alliance)