Murderkill & Slaughter Beach: Where did these creepy Delaware names come from?

One might find it strange that Delaware, celebrated for its beach tourism, hasn't scared off visitors with its unsettling waterway names like Slaughter Beach, Broadkill Beach and Murderkill River.

Yet, many locals are still wondering why this cute tiny state has some of the most fearsome names of any body of water in the country. In fact, a Delaware teacher made a campy horror film about a psycho fisherman titled "Slaughter Beach." The film was recently picked up on the popular streaming platform Tubi.

Put on your knee-high rain boots and matching yellow raincoat, because we're about to wade through backstories behind a number of creepy names for some of Delaware's waterways.

Broadkill and Murderkill River aren't serial killer names

The word "kill" comes from the Dutch and it refers to a river or stream.

Denise Clemons, archivist for Lewes Historical Society, said if you ever see a word that has "kill" in it — such as Broadkill River, Broadkill Beach or Murderkill River — that's usually because it's a waterway, not because it was inspired by homicidal maniacs.

Broadkill's name was based on a description of how it widened, she added.

In 2014, robin brown, then writing for Delaware Online/The News Journal, explained the "Murder" in Murderkill through an interview she did with Delaware Heritage Commission chairperson Dick Carter.

Mother is "moeder" in Dutch, and river is "kill," she reported.

"I've always understood that the name 'Murderkill' is taken from the original Dutch for Mother River," Carter said.

Lewes used to be Whorekill

During the 1650s, the coastal town we now call Lewes used to be called Horenkill, with another variation being Whorekill, according to the archivist. Hoorn is a city in Holland in the Netherlands. In 1681, Whorekill was renamed Deale, and the following year William Penn changed it to Lewes, she said. "The name Whorekill was an alternative spelling and had nothing to do with women of ill repute."

Slaughter Beach has different origin tales

Slaughter Beach was founded in 1681 and incorporated in 1931. The town's website mentions the way the beach "got its name has been debated over the years."

Early maps, per the town's website, show a small creek named Slaughter Creek that flowed through the marsh from the Cedar Creek south and emptied into Delaware Bay.

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To the southwest of the town is an area called “Slaughter Neck,” and Neck is a term used to describe upland areas between two key boundary areas. There is a theory on the website that the first postmaster for the area "had the last name of Slaughter."

Another rumor from the website involves horseshoe crabs that spawn on the beach during spring and early summer: "Wave action flips the crabs over where they are left to die in the hot sun, thus the “Slaughter of the Crabs.”'

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The site's most controversial claim about Slaughter Beach’s name is about Native Americans who were said to be attacked by early settlers in the area. Legend has it that the leader of the settlers arranged a meeting on the beach with the indigenous chief so that the settlers' “God” could “speak” to them.

"The leader had the Indians gather around their 'god,' a cannon, and fired the cannon killing all the Indians – thus the “Slaughter of the Indians,”' according to the website.

But the town's website doesn't state the official origin of the beach's name.

Meanwhile, Clemons said she believes the name behind Slaughter Beach "comes from a family named Slaughter, based on research in ancestry."

If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at [email protected]. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters. 

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Creepy Delaware names explained: Slaughter Beach, Murderkill River