In Portsmouth: Melville Park stream finally gets a name
Will forever be known as Matapurcetti Brook
PORTSMOUTH — Since he took over the reigns of the Melville Park Committee, Stephen Luce has wanted to find some way to pay tribute to the indigenous people who once roamed this property that …
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In Portsmouth: Melville Park stream finally gets a name
Will forever be known as Matapurcetti Brook
PORTSMOUTH — Since he took over the reigns of the Melville Park Committee, Stephen Luce has wanted to find some way to pay tribute to the indigenous people who once roamed this property that runs from West Main Road down to Narragansett Bay.
He did just that recently, when the Town Council approved his request to name the 3/4-mile stream that meanders through the town-owned park as Matapurcetti Brook.
The stream that runs from the south end of Thurston Grey Pond (just north of the Navy’s solar array) and northwesterly to the bay has always been nameless, Luce said.
“As far as we know this brook has never had a name, and we think it deserves a name,” he told the council on July 10. “We wanted a name that represented, in some way, the land.”
The first possible name that came up was Balston Brook, in honor of William Balston, one of the original settlers who’s known as the first person to brew beer in Portsmouth — most likely using water from the Melville stream, Luce said.
“But we at the Melville Park Committee were looking for perhaps an indigenous person connected to the land, because this was land that was used by indigenous people for thousands of years, and then used by Europeans for the past 400 years,” he said.
Luce said he then found a name that incorporated both.
Adam Mott, he explained, was the first English person to be granted the property. Mott’s will of 1661 gave the name of his land as “Matapurcetti,” which is likely a derivation of the Wampanoag name “Mattapoisett.”
“Mattapoisett means a nice resting place,” Luce said. “It also means a stream that is unfavorable for the passage of canoes. So, both definitions fit this brook that runs through Melville Park.”
The council agreed, voting unanimously to approve a resolution that names the waterway as Matapurcetti Brook.
Melville Park is part of the 153-acre Melville Recreation Area, which also includes the Newport RV Park (formerly the Melville Ponds Campground) and the Portsmouth Dog Park. You can view a trail map here.
