Eddie Murphy's character in Coming to America thought it was place of Queens, the perfect place to find his Queen.
Queens was one of the original counties of New York, formed (and named) in 1683, by the British. It included the land that is now Queens and Nassau counties and part of Suffolk. Adjoining Brooklyn was named King County in honor of King Charles II.
From 1664 to 1683 the British had administered the territory that would be Queens as part of colonial Yorkshire, which included Staten Island, Long Island, and Westchester.
Prior to 1664 the Dutch had the area as part of the New Netherlands.
And before the Dutch arrived, Native Americans had many names, some lost and other known, for the areas of Queens. The Algonquian term Sewanhacky is noted in Dutch colonial documents as the name of western Long Island. Sewanhacky means "Place of Shells."



