Shamokin (village)
Shamokin or Otzinachson
Schahamokink | |
|---|---|
Historic Native American village | |
| Etymology: Unami: Shahë-Mokink "place of crawfish" or Iroquoian languages: Otzinachson "The Demon's Den" | |
Former location of Shamokin, present-day site of Sunbury, Pennsylvania | |
| Coordinates: 40°51′50″N 76°47′21″W / 40.86389°N 76.78917°W | |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| Present-day Community | Sunbury, Pennsylvania |
| Founded | before 1711 |
| Abandoned | May, 1756 |
| Population | |
• Estimate (1745) | 300−400 |
Shamokin (/ʃəˈmoʊkɪn/; Saponi Algonquian Schahamokink: "place of crawfish") (Lenape: Shahëmokink) was a multi-ethnic Native American trading village on the Susquehanna River, located partially within the limits of the modern cities of Sunbury and Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania. It should not be confused with present-day Shamokin, Pennsylvania, located to the east. The village was the focus of missionary efforts, and then was the staging area for raids on English settlements in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. It was burned and abandoned by the Lenape in May, 1756. A few months later, Fort Augusta was constructed on the site of the village.