The name of Holland has been thought to have come from the fact that ditches being dug in the 1850s to divert the swamp water reminded people of the canals of Holland. Some have said the name was given because of the large number of Dutch people in the area, but there were more New Englanders and New Yorkers in the early settlements than there were Dutchmen. The most likely derivation of the name comes from a story about Franklin Hall (an early house builder in the area) that states when he platted the land for the building of his houses, he asked that it be called Hall Land. Supposedly, the clerk or other official changed the “a” to an “o” and eliminated one “l”, thus Holland.