City of Nooksack, Whatcom County, Washington

City of Nooksack Whatcom County, Washington

Mapped Location

City of Nooksack: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

Information

General information on City of Nooksack

Feature Type: Incorporated

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Nooksack

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name	Description
City of Nooksack	Official
Nooksack	Official

Origin Notes and History of City of Nooksack

References to City of Nooksack that document the origin of its place name

NOOKSACK, an Indian word used as the name of a river and a town in Whatcom County. The Handbook of American Indians, Part 2, page 81, shows many spellings in use but all are evident efforts to express the same sounds. The same work declares that those Indians were mountain men living in small bands on the river of the same name. Dr. Charles M. Buchanan is quoted as saying that Nook or Nooh means people and sa-ak means the edible root of bracken or fern. (J. H. Williams' edition of Winthrop's The Canoe and the Saddle, note on Page 280.) In the same region is the town Ferndale whose name may be thought of as a sort of synonym of the Indian name of Nooksak. One of the early appearances of the river's name was on the map by the Surveyor General of Washington Territory for 1857. ( United States Public Documents serial number 877, Senate Executive Document No. 5.)

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 191 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Whatcom County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2024-06-03