Why is one New York City borough so special that it gets “The” in front of its name?

Picture it: South Westchester County, 1639. A Swedish sea captain named Jonas Bronck left his home in the Netherlands and staked his claim on 500 acres north of the Harlem River in present-day New York, becoming the first European settler in the area. He proceeded to slap his name on pretty much everything in the area, but the only one that stuck was the river, which became (and still is) known as The Bronx River. Why Bronx instead of Bronck’s? According to Jonas’ descendants, it is simply a phonetic shortcut in the Dutch language to indicate the possessive form of his name.

In 1874, approximately 20 square miles of that area of Westchester County was annexed by New York City. It was officially known as Annexed District of The Bronx, with “The Bronx” referring to the river. When the city established the borough system in 1898, they shortened the name of this particular area to The Bronx, again, as a nod to the river that ran through it. By the way, according to The Bronx County Historical Society, the “T” in “The” is always capitalized when referring to The Bronx.