Castle's Chessboard

The Origin of The Bronx

My Hometown and the city I have lived most of my life is New York City. This is probably a pretty well-known fact but to avoid taking readers who haven't visited New York before for granted, the city is divided up into 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx. I grew up in the latter part of the city. If you notice... "The" Bronx is the only borough in New York where an article precedes it.

The Bronx gets its name from the Bronx river which itself is named for a Dutch settler Jonas Bronc due to the fact that it is short for the Bronx River. Interestingly enough I found that story out after checking Wikipedia and it wasn't the origin story I had originally heard for the way the Bronx got its name. As I remember it my 7th grade social studies teacher had told me that the Bronx received its name from a famous family that lived in the borough who were known to throw lavish parties. People invited to the parties would often ask each other if they were planning to attend. "Are you going to the Bronc's this weekend?". The phrase lead to the definite article being part of the name of the borough. As fun as the origin story my Social Studies teacher gave is, I wasn't able any confirmation or mention of that story online. I am am left wondering where it came from.

Author's note: Originally I started writing this entry as part of a challenge for "Invalid Item" . I didn't get a chance to finish it but wound up going back and completing it for "I Write: Enter the Second Decade" .