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Traces of the Indians

The original name of Hyannis is of Indian derivation as are many of the Cape towns. This original Indian name was Iyannough, in honor of the young sachem who first received and welcomed the colonists. The name has since gone through modifications of Janno, lanno, Hyanno, and finally Hyannis which still has the flavor of Indian syllables.

Barnstable County was christened in memory of the seaport of Barnstable in Devonshire, England, near the English Channel. This practice of naming towns in the New World after familiar ones in England was common; the pioneers liked to recall some of the happy days of their life there.

The Indian names which are still to be seen on Cape Cod, and even the modifications of these names, such as Hyannis, bring to mind the days when Cape Cod was but a long stretch of sand dunes, beach grass and pine groves, an untouched place which the Indians called their home.

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