Mahoning River

[AllanY2525]

The name Mahoning is derived from an Indian word, "mahonik",
which some historians have interpreted as meaning "at or near
the salt lick".

In this case, the "salt lick" would be the salt spring on the west side
of the river, for which salt springs road was named.

The name "Mahoning" is most likely a local name, given to the river
by a local tribe - this might explain why some early explorers referred to
it as the "Big Beaver".  Unless these explorers had met the local
Indian tribes, they would not have been aware of the local name
for the river - and since it is connected to the Beaver river.......

[Towntalk]

In looking over an old map I have of the Western Reserve, at the time it was made, the Mahoning River was referred to as the Big Beaver River which leads me to wonder if this was a mistake on the part of William Sumner who published it or whether it got a name change along the way.

A second map of the Federal Lands published in 1799 also shows the Beaver Creek River flowing into the area and referred to the Ohio portion as a branch of the Beaver Creek River.

Because I can't post the two maps here in large enough size to really view them I have them in my Webshots site in larger format, and maybe someone familiar with the history of the Mahoning River can explain why the different names were used.