How did Licking Creek in Pennsylvania get it’s name? This page provides a brief derivation about Licking Creek in Pennsylvania.
One of the main tributaries of Unami Creek, rising in southeastern Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County. Crossing the line into Milford Township, it flows first in a southerly then easterly direction and empties into Unami Creek a half mile southeast of Milford Square. This stream is figured on the maps of the U. S. Geological Survey as Licking Creek. While the derivation of this name is doubtful, there are several Licking Creeks in the State, one in Bedford County, another in Juniata County, a third in Franklin County, and some authorities claim that Licking, an English name, was substituted for the Indian name Mahoni (Mahon-hanne), meaning “salt lick creek,” or “creek flowing near a salt lick.” This stream may have been much frequented by Virginia deer when they were plentiful in Bucks County. Heckewelder says the Indian name signified “a deer lick, a place where salty or brackish water issues out of the earth.”