by Alex Nuti-de Biasi, Journal-Opinion

One of our local landmarks amused a few of our state Senators yesterday, according to VTDigger.

“I did have one question on the second-to-last slide,” Sen. David Weeks, R-Rutland, said during the floor debate. “I’m really quite curious where Ticklenaked is. It’s got my curiosity.”

The debate was on legislation designed to reduce the effects of chloride pollution from the application of road salt. A handout during yesterday’s session referenced bodies of water around Vermont. 

State Sen. Scott Beck, R-Caledonia, responded that he was familiar with the lake in Ryegate. 

For what it’s worth, most believe the unusual name is derived from “tickeneket,” the Algonquin word for “place of little beavers.”

As Europeans settled the region, they often discarded traditional names or, when they did use them, garbled them or erroneously interpreted them, wrote historian Larry Coffin for the JO in 2012. 

And so, “kwenitegw,” or “the long river,” became “Connecticut” and “tickeneket” became “Ticklenaked.”

Historian Dwight White told the JO in 1995 that town records show early Ryegate residents wanted to rename Ticklenaked as “Witherspoon Lake” in honor of Founding Father Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon. who was involved in the town’s settlement. 

But they never got around to taking formal action and so it remains Ticklenaked Pond to this day. 

Finally, with Ryegate top of mind, Beck attended the Blue Mountain Union informational meeting last night.