Shawangunk is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 12,022 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from native words. The Town of Shawangunk is in the southwestern part of the county. Like the neighboring mountain range, the name is sometimes pronounced "Shongum" by local residents.Shawangunk was first settled by Europeans around 1670. The region was organized as a precinct in 1743, and became the Town of Shawangunk in 1788. The name is a Dutch transliteration of the indigenous Munsee Lenape "Scha-WAN-gunk." The Lenape linguist Raymond Whritenour reports that, "Schawan" is an inanimate intransitive verb meaning 'it is smoky air' or 'there is smoky air.' Its noun-like participle is "schawank," meaning that which is smoky air.' Adding the locative suffix gi...
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