Editing Hell Gate (section)

== Etymology ==
The name "Hell Gate" is a corruption of the Low German or [[Dutch language|Dutch phrase]] ''[[Gat (landform)#Etymology|Hellegat]]'', which means "bright gate". It first appeared on a Dutch map as {{lang|nl|Helle Gadt}}.<ref name=gannett>{{Cite web|url=https://memory.loc.gov/intldl/awkbhtml/kb-1/kb-1-2-5.html|title = The Atlantic World: Dutch Place Names / De Atlantische Wereld: Plaatsnamen}}</ref> The name was originally applied to the entirety of the East River, by [[Netherlands|Dutch]] explorer [[Adriaen Block]], the first European known to have navigated the strait, who bestowed the name sometime during his 1614–1616 voyage aboard the ''Onrust'' circumnavigating [[Long Island]], from its namesake Hellegat on (the mouth of) the [[Scheldt]], in [[Zeeland]] back in the Netherlands.{{sfnp|Nichols|2018|pp=10–12}}<ref name=ruttenber/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Hellegat is a fairly common name for waterways in the [[Low Countries]], with at least 20 examples.<ref name=vandyck-web/>}}

This name Hellegat was taken from the Greek Hellespont ([[Dardanelles]]) which also has a dangerous reputation, in the opinion of historian [[Edward Manning Ruttenber]].<ref name=ruttenber/> Alternatively, the name could be construed to mean "bright strait" or "clear opening", according to geographer [[Henry Gannett]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA154 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. |last=Gannett |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Gannett | year=1905 | page=154 [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n153 154] }} [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ Alt URL]</ref>

Because explorers found navigation hazardous in this New World place of rocks and converging tide-driven currents (from the [[Long Island Sound]], [[Harlem River]] strait, [[Upper New York Bay|Upper Bay]] of [[New York Harbor]], and lesser channels, some of which have been filled), the Anglicization stuck.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newyorkhistory.info/Hell-Gate/|title=Hell Gate|work=New York History|access-date=April 15, 2012|archive-date=January 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102020331/http://www.newyorkhistory.info/Hell-Gate/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The strait was also known as '''Hurl Gate''' (or '''Hurlgate'''), and so labeled on 18th and 19th century maps and annals,{{sfnp|Nichols|2018|pp=19–20}}<ref name=ruttenber/> this name probably consisting of Dutch ''{{lang|nl|warrel}}'' "whirl" and ''{{lang|nl|gat}}'' "hole, gap, mouth", in effect denoting "whirlpool".<ref name=ruttenber/>

For the [[whirlpool]] that develops in Hell Gate, the name Monatun was applied by Dr. [[Henry Rowe Schoolcraft]]; the name is said to mean "violent, forcible, dangerous".<ref name=ruttenber/>